Changes

*''Sophora heptaphylla'' L. (1754), *''Sophora crassifolia'' J. St.-Hil. (1806), *''Sophora havanensis'' Jacq. (1860).

*An evergreen shrub or small tree up to 7 m tall; bole branchless for up to 3 m, up to 45 cm in diameter; young twigs, leaf rachises, lower surface of leaflets, inflorescences, calyces and pods densely puberulous or tomentose. *Leaves arranged spirally, imparipinnate, up to 30 cm long, with 9-23 leaflets, stipules absent; leaflets opposite, broadly elliptical to suborbicular, up to 4(-5) cm × 3 cm, apex rounded to slightly emarginate. *Flowers in a terminal raceme up to 25 cm long, papilionaceous; bracteoles absent; pedicel 5-10 mm long; calyx campanulate, with 5 shallow teeth; petals yellow, standard 14-20 mm × 11-14 mm, wings and keel of equal length; stamens 10, free; ovary superior, densely appressed pubescent. *Fruit a 3-10-seeded pod, 5-19 cm long, markedly constricted between the seeds. *Seeds subglobose, 6-7 mm long, brownish. *Seedling with hypogeal germination; cotyledons not emergent; hypocotyl elongated; epicotyl with a few scale leaves, followed by simple, then 2-foliolate, 3-foliolate, 5-foliolate, etc. leaves.

''Sophora'' comprises about 50 species and belongs to the tribe ''Sophoreae'' of the subfamily ''Papilionoideae'' . ''S. tomentosa'' has been subdivided into several subspecies; within Malesia only subsp. ''tomentosa'' occurs. The correct name for the well-known ''Sophora japonica'' L., which is used medicinally, as a dye and as an ornamental, is ''Styphnolobium japonicum'' (L.) Schott. The segregation of the small genus ''Styphnolobium'' from ''Sophora'' is supported by morphological evidence, a deviating somatic chromosome number and DNA research.