Sophora
Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species are native to southern Asia, Australasia, various Pacific islands, western South America, the western United States, Florida and Puerto Rico. 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. The New Zealand "Sophora" species are known as kōwhai or kowhai. The seeds of species such as "Sophora affinis" and "Sophora chrysophylla" are reported to be poisonous. Fossil record. One "Sophora" fossil seed pod from the middle Eocene epoch has been described from the Miller clay pit in Henry County, Tennessee, United States. Species. "Sophora" comprises the following species: Species names with uncertain taxonomic status. The status of the following species is unresolved: