Erythrina zeyheri, commonly known as the ploughbreaker, is a deciduous, geoxylic subshrub and member of the family Fabaceae.

It grows no more than 60 cm tall[3] and occurs naturally in the higher elevation grasslands of South Africa's central plateau, and that of adjacent Lesotho.

[4] They favour deep clay soil in the vicinity of creeks and marshes, and often form colonies.

It is a geoxylic plant, sometimes called an "underground tree",[5] that produces annual stems, some 50 to 60 cm long.

The shoots and leaves are deciduous, dying away during harsh highveld winters,[3] when the plant survives as an extensive woody, tuberous rootstock.