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Sophora secundiflora

Common name:	Mescal Bean	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	(Ortega.)Lag. ex DC.	Botanical references:	11, 82, 200
Synonyms:	Virgilia secundiflora ((Ortega.)Cav.), Broussonetia secundiflora (Ortega.)
Known Hazards:	The plant, and especially the seeds, contains the poisonous alkaloid cytosine (or sophorin according to another report[82]), which resembles nicotine in its action and is similarly toxic[238].
Range:	Southern N. America - Texas, New Mexico and Northern Mexico.
Habitat:	Borders of streams, forming thickets or small groves in low rather moist limestone soils[82].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Mescal Bean [H,P,S,DEN2,E], Mescal-bean [B], Mescalbean Sophora [FEIS], Texas Mountain Laurel [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	flora = flowered secundiflora = flowers on one side
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Amerindian Mexico Mexico(Kickapoo) Us Us(Amerindian)

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 10m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in leaf all year, in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Hallucinogenic Narcotic.

Hallucinogenic, narcotic[82, 161, 192]. An infusion of the seeds is used[192, 200], half a seed is enough to produce intoxication[192]. An infusion of the ground up seed has also been applied to ears in the treatment of earaches[213, 257].
The seeds contain the highly poisonous alkaloid cytosine (or sophorine) - this substance is related to nicotine and acts violently in the human system[213].

Other Uses

Dye Wood.

A yellow dye is obtained from the wood[227].
Wood - very heavy, hard, close grained[82]. Of no commercial importance[227].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in a well-drained moderately fertile soil in full sun[200]. Succeeds in a hot dry position. Rather slow-growing and difficult to transplant[227].
A very ornamental plant[274]. This species has not been tried outdoors in Britain, it is possibly hardy if grown in the sunniest mildest areas of the country, or against a sunny wall in less mild areas[11]. It grows best in the warmer areas of the country where the wood will be more readily ripened and better able to withstand winter cold[219].
Plants should be container-grown and planted out whilst young, older plants do not transplant well[219].
The flowers have a powerful and delicious fragrance[82, 200], though some people find them offensive[227].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse[200]. Pre-soak stored seed for 12 hours in hot (not boiling) water and sow in late winter in a greenhouse[78]. Prick out the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle into individual pots in the greenhouse, and grow them on for 2 years under protected conditions. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer of their third year.
Cuttings of young shoots with a heel, July/August in a frame[11].
Air-layering[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[S] Image from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[FEIS] Data (Uses, Ecology, Fire Effects) from the USDA Forestry Service Fire Effects Information System.

References for sophora secundiflora (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[192] Emboden. W. Narcotic Plants Studio Vista 1979 ISBN 0-289-70864-8
A lot of details about the history, chemistry and use of narcotic plants, including hallucinogens, stimulants, inebriants and hypnotics.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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