Sophora secundiflora

(Ortega) Lag. ex DC.

Mescal Bean Tree, Texas mountain laurel

Fabaceae Edible: Seeds - drink

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Summary

Evergreen tree reaching 10 m tall with slow growth. Hardy to UK zone 8. Flowers April to May with seeds ripening in October. Hermaphroditic and insect-pollinated. Nitrogen-fixing. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage. Adapts to mildly acid, neutral, and mildly alkaline pH. Requires full sun and handles both dry and moist conditions.

Description

An evergreen tree. It grows 9 m high and spreads 4.5 m wide. The leaves are shiny, leathery and compound. The leaves have 3-5 pairs of leaflets. The leaflets are rounded at the end. The flowers are violet-blue. They occur in clusters. They have a strong scent. The fruit are silver grey seed pods.

Edible Uses

None known

Traditional Uses

CAUTION: The seeds and flowers are very poisonous. The seeds have been used to make an intoxicant.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The seeds are hallucinogenic and narcotic. An infusion of the seeds is used, with as little as half a seed being enough to produce intoxication. A ground-seed infusion has also been applied to the ears to treat earaches. The seeds contain the highly poisonous alkaloid cytisine, a substance related to nicotine that acts violently in the human system.

Distribution

It is a temperate to subtropical tree. It suits hardiness zones 8-11.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia, Chile, China, East Africa, Himalayas, India, Madagascar, Mexico*, Nepal, North America, Pakistan, Slovenia, Taiwan, USA,

Propagation

Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Stored seed should be pre-soaked for 12 hours in hot (not boiling) water, then sown in late winter in a greenhouse. Prick out seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle, and grow them on under protected conditions for 2 years before planting out into permanent positions in early summer of the third year. Cuttings of young shoots with a heel can be taken in July or August in a frame. Air-layering is also an option.

Other Uses

A yellow dye is obtained from the wood. The wood is very heavy, hard, and close-grained, though of no commercial importance.

Production

It is very slow growing.

Notes

There are about 50 Sophora species.

Synonyms

Broussonetia secundiflora OrtegaCalia secundiflora (Ortega) Yakovl.

Also Known As

Frijolillo, Frijolito

References (10)

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 585
Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
Bremness, L., 1994, Herbs. Collins Eyewitness Handbooks. Harper Collins. p 84
Cat. pl. horti monsp. 148. 1813
Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 1352

Show all 10 references

Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org
Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 627
http://www.botanic-gardens-ljubljana.com/en/plants
Little, E.L., 1980, National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees. Alfred A. Knopf. p 530
Loughmiller, C & L., 1985, Texas Wildflowers. A Field Guide. University of Texas, Austin. p 138