Sophora

Thesaurus

Noun

Sophora - cosmopolitan genus of trees and shrubs having odd-pinnate leaves and showy flowers; some species placed in genus Podalyriagenus Sophorarosid dicot genus - a genus of dicotyledonous plantsPapilionoideae, subfamily Papilionoideae - alternative name used in some classification systems for the family PapilionaceaeChinese scholar tree, Chinese scholartree, Japanese pagoda tree, Sophora japonica, Sophora sinensis - handsome roundheaded deciduous tree having compound dark green leaves and profuse panicles of fragrant creamy-white flowers; China and Japancoral bean, frijolillo, frijolito, mescal bean, Sophora secundiflora - shrub or small tree having pinnate leaves poisonous to livestock and dense racemes of intensely fragrant blue flowers and red beanskowhai, Sophora tetraptera - shrub or small tree of New Zealand and Chile having pendulous racemes of tubular golden-yellow flowers; yields a hard strong wood

Sophora

a genus of deciduous or evergeen trees and shrubs of the family Leguminosae; a few species are perennial herbs. The leaves are odd-pinnate. The white, yellowish, pink, or blue-violet flowers are about 10–18 mm long and are gathered in racemes or panicles. The beadlike, cylindrical, or almost tetrahedral pods are sometimes winged and for the most part indehiscent.

There are about 20 species (according to other data as many as 70), growing in the tropics and subtropics. The plants are infrequently encountered in the temperate zone of both hemispheres. There are five species in the USSR. S. pachycarpa grows in Middle Asia, and 5. alopecuroides occurs in the southern European USSR, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, and Middle Asia. Both species are dangerous quarantine weeds of fields; it is very difficult to control them. Contamination of flour with ground So-phora seeds makes the bread bitter and poisonous. All species of Sophora are poisonous; they contain the alkaloids α-sparteine, sophocarpine, and matrine. The plants may be raised as nectar-bearers or as sources of insecticides, medicines, and dyes. The Japanese pagoda tree (S. japonica) is widely cultivated in the southern USSR as an ornamental.

REFERENCES

Kott, S. A. Karantinnye sornye rasteniia i mery bor’by s nimi, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1953.
Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 4. Moscow-Leningrad, 1958.

Sophora

Related to Sophora: Sophora secundiflora, Ulta

noun

Synonyms for Sophora

noun cosmopolitan genus of trees and shrubs having odd-pinnate leaves and showy flowers

Synonyms

genus Sophora

Related Words

rosid dicot genus
Papilionoideae
subfamily Papilionoideae
Chinese scholar tree
Chinese scholartree
Japanese pagoda tree
Sophora japonica
Sophora sinensis
coral bean
frijolillo
frijolito
mescal bean
Sophora secundiflora
kowhai
Sophora tetraptera