Sophora
| Sophora | |
|---|---|
 |
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| S. chrysophylla flowers and leaves | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Sophoreae |
| Genus: | Sophora L. |
| Type species | |
| Sophora tomentosa L.[1] |
|
| Species | |
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About 60-70 species; see text: |
|
| Synonyms | |
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Ammothamnus Bunge |
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Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The species are native to southeast Europe, southern Asia, Australasia, various islands in the Pacific Ocean, western South America, the western United States[3], the Southern US state of Florida[4] and Puerto Rico. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.[5]
The genus formerly had a broader interpretation including many other species now treated in other genera, notably Styphnolobium (pagoda tree genus), which differs in lacking nitrogen fixing bacteria (rhizobia) on the roots, and Calia (the mescalbeans). Styphnolobium has galactomannans as seed polysaccharide reserve, in contrast Sophora contains arabinogalactans, and Calia amyloid.
The New Zealand Sophora species are known as Kowhai.
The Toromiro (Sophora toromiro) was formerly a common tree in the forests of Easter Island. The tree fell victim to the deforestation that eliminated the island's forests by the 18th century, and later became extinct in the wild. The tree is being reintroduced to the island in a scientific project partly led jointly by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Göteborg Botanical Garden, where the only remaining plants of this species with a documented origin were propagated in the 1960s from seeds collected by Thor Heyerdahl.
Mayo or Mayú (Sophora macrocarpa) is a small tree that inhabits the Chilean Matorral.
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[edit] Selected species
[edit] Formerly placed here
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[edit] References
- ^ "Sophora L.". TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden. http://tropicos.org/Name/40002086. Retrieved 2010-01-28.
- ^ "Genus: Sophora L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2006-11-03. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?11294. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ "PLANTS Profile Sophora nuttalliana B.L. Turner silky sophora". USDA Natural Resources Consevation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SONU&photoID=sose8_001_avd.tif. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ "PLANTS Profile Sophora tomentosa L.yellow necklacepod". USDA Natural Resources Consevation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SOTO3. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ Gledhill, D. (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 356. ISBN 9780521866453. http://books.google.com/books?id=NJ6PyhVuecwC.
- ^ cited as S.viciifolia Hance (1903)in Tsong et Ma (1981)Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica p.21
- ^ "GRIN Species Records of Sophora". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?11294. Retrieved 2010-10-09.
- Heenan P.B, de Lange P.J, Wilton A.D. (2001) "Sophora (Fabaceae) in New Zealand: taxonomy, distribution and biogeography." New Zealand Journal of Botany. 39: 17-53 on line
[edit] External links
Media related to Sophora at Wikimedia Commons 
Data related to Sophora at Wikispecies
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