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Necklacepod

Sophora

Also called Necklacepods

Necklacepod
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0

Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family, found across the tropics and subtropics, including New Zealand's kowhai. Commonly grown members are ornamental trees valued for their pea-type flowers, and care varies by species.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while young, then reduce to occasional deep watering once established.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerant of a range of soil types.
Temperature
Varies by species; many tolerate mild frost, but tropical members need protection from cold.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: Seeds of species such as Sophora affinis and Sophora chrysophylla are reported to be poisonous.

About

Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species have a pantropical distribution. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree.

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.

Other Sophora plants

Sophora alopecuroides · Shrubby sophora · Kowhai · Yellow necklacepod

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Sophora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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