From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Mamani
Sophora chrysophylla
Pea family (Fabaceae)

Native species ()

native tree or shrub widespread but mainly in dry mountain forests, identified by compound () leaves with mostly silvery gray , showy golden yellow beanlike flowers, and distinctive 4- pod. Small to medium-sized tree 20–40 ft (6–12 m) tall and to 2 ft (0.6 m) in diameter, or a shrub. Bark gray brown, smoothish, becoming furrowed into scaly ridges. Twigs are , hairy when young. Pea subfamily (Faboideae).


©2012 Eric White
, , 5–6 inches (12.5–15 ) long, blunt or slightly notched at , rounded at base, stalkless, thin, hairy when young, mostly silvery gray, hairy beneath or sometimes hairless.

Flower clusters () at ends and sides of twigs, unbranched, less than 2 inches (5 ) long. Flowers several on slender stalks, beanlike, 1⁄2–1 inch (13–25 ) long, golden yellow, consisting of cup shaped hairy less than 3⁄8 inch (10 ) long with short , five yellow petals 1 inch (25 ) long, broad curved standard, two , and , 10 separate , and with hairy and long slender .

(pods) 4–6 inches (10–15 ) long and more than 1⁄4 inch (6 ) wide, with 4 long , deeply narrowed between the seeds, hard and not splitting open. Seeds 4–8, beanlike, elliptical, 5⁄16 inch (8 ) long, slightly flattened, yellow, very bitter.

The sapwood is pale brown and the heartwood yellowish brown with reddish streaks, coarse textured, heavy, very hard, and very durable in the ground. It has a spicy odor and distinct growth rings. It is used for fence posts at high elevations near where it grows and was formerly used by the Hawaiians for tool handles. The Hawaiians sometimes cut the wood for posts and beams of their houses and for of their sleds for sliding down steep mountain courses paved with rocks.

Livestock, particularly sheep, browse the foliage and destroy seedlings. It has been demonstrated that animal damage has seriously depleted the mamane forests on Hawaii. On Mauna Kea, this tree is the primary food source for the endangered bird palila. Other birds such as the ‘i‘iwi and ‘apapane also feed on the tree.

This species is one of the most widely distributed trees in Hawaii. It is common mainly in dry mountain forests at 4000–8000 ft (1219–2438 m) altitude, ranging down almost to 100 ft (30 m) and up to 9500 ft (2896 m) as the timberline on the highest mountains of the island of Hawaii, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai. It reaches its best development as a tree on the higher slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Elsewhere, except for portions of Haleakala on Maui, it grows predominantly as a shrub.

Found on five of the six large islands of Hawaii, apparently extinct on Lanai. It is rare on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai, but common at higher elevations on Maul and Hawaii.

The plants are hardy, deep-rooted and endure heavy browsing. They vary greatly in size and shape, from low much-branched shrubs to medium-sized trees. The foliage differs from green and hairless at low altitudes to silvery and hairy near timberline. One variety from Hawaii and Maui has simple leaves with large .

Special areas
Kokee, Waimea Arboretum, Haleakala, Volcanoes, Kipuka Puaulu, Pohakuloa State Park on Hawaii

Champion
Height 39 ft (11.9 m), c.b.h. 12.2 ft (3.7 m), spread 42 ft (12.8 m). Mauna Kea Forest Reserve, Humuula, Hawaii (1968).

Range
Known only from Hawaii. Two closely related species are native to New Zealand.

Other common names
mamani, mamano

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

stolon -- A slender modified stem running along the ground, rooting at the tip, and sprouting new plants. Strawberries have stolons. Also called runners.

wing -- A maple seed has wings.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

wing -- Pea flowers have wings.

silky -- Covered with fine soft hairs, with a lustrous sheen. Satiny to the touch.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

endemic -- when restricted to a certain country or area.

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

A pistil is the female structure of many flowers. It contains one or more carpels. Each carpel contins an ovary, style and stigma. The stigma receives the pollen which grows thru the style to reach the ovary.

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

In a pea flower the two bottom petals are fused together forming a boat-like structure called the keel. The glumes of grasses may have a sharp projecting ridge like the keel of a boat.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

An ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.