Sophora
Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox
Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species have a pantropical distribution.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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 Dermatophyllum (the mescalbeans). Styphnolobium has galactomannans as seed polysaccharide reserve, in contrast Sophora contains arabinogalactans, and Dermatophyllum amylose.
The New Zealand Sophora species are known as kowhai.<ref name="Heenan">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The seeds of species such as Sophora affinis and Sophora chrysophylla are reported to be poisonous.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Fossil recordEdit
One Sophora fossil seed pod from the middle Eocene epoch has been described from the Miller clay pit in Henry County, Tennessee, United States.<ref>The Fossil History of Leguminosae from the Eocene of Southeastern North America by Patrick S. Herendeen, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Template:ISBN</ref>
SpeciesEdit
Sophora comprises the following species:<ref name = powo/><ref name="Heenan" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="PlantList">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Div col
- Sophora albescens Template:Small
- Sophora albopetiolulata Template:Small
- Sophora alopecuroides Template:Small—sophora root
- var. alopecuroides
- var. tomentosa Template:Small
- Sophora bakeri Template:Small
- Sophora benthamii Template:Small
- Sophora brachygyna Template:Small
- Sophora cassioides Template:Small—Pelú (Chile)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Sophora chathamica Template:Small—coastal kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora chrysophylla Template:Small—Māmane (Hawaii)
- Sophora davidi Template:Small
- Sophora denudata Template:Small
- Sophora dunii Template:Small
- Sophora exigua Template:Small
- Sophora fernandeziana Template:Small (Juan Fernández Islands)
- var. fernandeziana Template:Small
- var. reedeana Template:Small
- Sophora flavescens Template:Small—ku shen (Eastern Asia)
- var. flavescens Template:Small
- var. galegoides Template:Small
- var. kronei Template:Small
- Sophora franchetiana Template:Small
- Sophora fraseri Template:Small
- Sophora fulvida Template:Small—Waitakere kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora gibbosa Template:Small
- Sophora godleyi—Godley kowhai, papa kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora howinsula Template:Small—lignum vitae, Lord Howe kowhai
- Sophora huamotensis Template:Small
- Sophora inhambanensis Template:Small
- Sophora interrupta Template:Small
- Sophora jaubertii Template:Small
- Sophora koreensis Template:Small – Korean necklace pod<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Sophora leachiana Template:Small
- Sophora linearifolia Template:Small
- Sophora longicarinata Template:Small—limestone kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora longipes Template:Small
- Sophora macnabiana Template:Small
- Sophora macrocarpa Template:Small — mayo or mayú (Chile)
- Sophora mangarevaensis Template:Small (French Polynesia)
- Sophora masafuerana Template:Small (Juan Fernández Islands)
- Sophora microcarpa Template:Small
- Sophora microphylla Template:Small—small-leaved kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora mollis Template:Small
- subsp. griffithii Template:Small
- subsp. mollis Template:Small
- Sophora molloyi—Cook Strait Kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora moorcroftiana Template:Small
- Sophora nuttalliana Template:Small
- Sophora oblongata Template:Small
- Sophora pachycarpa Template:Small
- Sophora praetorulosa Template:Small
- Sophora prostrata Template:Small—dwarf kowhai, prostrate kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora raivavaeensis Template:Small (French Polynesia)
- Sophora rapaensis Template:Small (French Polynesia)
- Sophora reedeana Template:Small
- Sophora rhynchocarpa Template:Small (unplaced)
- Sophora saxicola Template:Small (Jamaica)
- Sophora secundiflora, a popular landscape plant, was reclassified to Dermatophyllum secundiflorum.
- Sophora songarica Template:Small
- Sophora stenophylla Template:Small
- Sophora tetraptera Template:Small—large-leaved kowhai, Taupo kowhai (New Zealand)
- Sophora tomentosa Template:Small—necklace pod (Pantropical on coasts)
- subsp. littoralis Template:Small
- subsp. occidentalis Template:Small
- subsp. tomentosa Template:Small
- Sophora tonkinensis Template:Small
- Sophora toromiro Template:Small—toromiro (Easter Island)
- Sophora velutina Template:Small
- subsp. cavaleriei Template:Small
- subsp. velutina Template:Small
- subsp. zimbabweensis Template:Small
- Sophora violacea Template:Small
- Sophora wightii Template:Small (India)
- Sophora xanthoantha Template:Small
- Sophora yunnanensis Template:Small
- Sophora zeylanica Template:Small
Species names with uncertain taxonomic statusEdit
The status of the following species is unresolved:<ref name="PlantList" /> Template:Div col
- Sophora angustifolia Template:Small
- Sophora biflora Template:Small
- Sophora biflora Template:Small
- Sophora buxifolia Template:Small
- Sophora chathamica Template:Small
- Sophora coerulea Template:Small
- Sophora cuneifolia Template:Small
- Sophora davidii Template:Small
- Sophora donihuensis Template:Small
- Sophora genistaefolia Template:Small
- Sophora genistoides Template:Small
- Sophora glabra Template:Small
- Sophora glabra Template:Small
- Sophora godleyi Template:Small
- Sophora grandiflora Template:Small
- Sophora grisea Template:Small
- Sophora hirsuta Template:Small
- Sophora houghiana Template:Small
- Sophora howinsula Template:Small
- Sophora jabandas Template:Small
- Sophora juncea Template:Small
- Sophora ludovice-Adecim-Asexta Template:Small
- Sophora mangarevaensis Template:Small
- Sophora mecosperma Template:Small
- Sophora molloyi Template:Small
- Sophora molokaiensis Template:Small
- Sophora mutabilis Template:Small
- Sophora myrtillifolia Template:Small
- Sophora oblongata Template:Small
- Sophora oblongifolia Template:Small
- Sophora oligophylla Template:Small
- Sophora pendula Template:Small
- Sophora pentaphylla Template:Small
- Sophora persica Template:Small
- Sophora praetorulosa Template:Small
- Sophora raivavaeensis Template:Small
- Sophora rapaensis Template:Small
- Sophora robinoides Template:Small
- Sophora senegalensis Template:Small
- Sophora sibirica Template:Small
- Sophora sinica Template:Small
- Sophora sinuata Template:Small
- Sophora sororia Template:Small
- Sophora sumatrana Template:Small
- Sophora sylvatica Template:Small
- Sophora tetraptera Template:Small
- Sophora tiloebsis Template:Small
- Sophora tiloensis Template:Small
- Sophora trifolia Template:Small
- Sophora triphylla Template:Small
- Sophora vanioti Template:Small
- Sophora vestita Template:Small
- Sophora viciifolis Template:Small