Evolution
The description of ''E. abyssinica'' has been complicated, because the first specimen of Erythrina from Ethiopia brought to Europe was actually a mix of the two species. The flowers and leaves belonged to ''E. brucei'' Schweinfurth and the pod and seeds to ''E. abyssinica'' Lam. ex DC.In addition, the first three descriptions were invalid, i.e. not published correctly to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , ''E. abyssinica'' Lam. and ''E. tomentosa'' Robert Brown.
Furthermore, the species is variable with individuals with glabrous and hairy leaves which were described separately and after revision resulted in additional synonyms. The number of synonyms increased when a new genus was described from South Africa, which later was considered synonymous with Erythrina.
Finally, ''E. abyssinica'' was considered for some time the juvenile stage of ''E. brucei'' and hence synonymous with the latter species. The issue was settled in 1962 when the pods and seeds from ''E. brucei'' were collected which were different from those of ''E. abyssinica''. Consecutively, the seeds planted revealed that seedlings and saplings of ''E. brucei'' did not resemble those of ''E. abyssinica''.
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