74 



CARL SKOTTSBERG 



vatum), basi cuneato-rotundata, apice truncata et minutissime emarginata, peni- 

 cillo brevi albo ornata, textura tenui, supra laete viridia, parce pilosa, 

 subtus glaucescentia, pilis albis praecipue secus rnedianum densius vestita. 

 Legumen longe pedicellatum, ad 10 cm longum, ad 7-locellatum, pro sectione 

 typicum quadrialatum alis angustis cite. 1,5 mm altis transverse striatis, parie- 

 tibus sat tenuibus, dilute brunneis. Semina sat parva, 4,2 — 5 mm longa et 

 3,5 — 4 mm lata, ovoideo-globosa, basi et interdum apice apiculata, fulva, urn- 

 bilico obscuro notata. 



As far as I can understand, this is a very good species. It differs in 

 several respects from both Chilean and New Zealand specimens of S. tetra- 

 ptera. The pubescence is whitish even in the youngest parts, the leaflets are 



XZ* 



Fig. 2 a — c Sophora toromiro (R. A. Phil) Skottsb. a leaf, nat. size; b leaflet, lower surface, 

 X 2; c four seeds, nat. size; d Lycium sandvicense A. Gray, flower. X 5- — Drawn by C. 



Skottsberg. 



of a yellowish or otherwise bright green colour above, and very thin, papy- 

 raceous; they are also less numerous to the midrib. Finally the seeds are 

 smaller, more globose and yellow. All the forms from Juan Fernandez have 

 quite unwinged pods and larger, oblong obtuse seeds of a dark castaneous 

 colour, very different from those of the Easter Island species, which is one of 

 the more interesting endemic plants. 



S. toromiro will probably soon be extinct. Already at the time ofCoOK 

 and FoRSTER this tree, called Mimosa by the latter (Voyage I p. 568) was 

 scarce, though he observed small shrubberies in some places (1. c. 578, 59 2 )- 

 Concerning the supposed forests, see my paper in Vol. I (No. 1) of this work. 

 Although, to judge from the famous wood-carvings of the islanders, the stem 

 formerly attained a thickness of a couple of dm at least, only small stunted 

 specimens were left in 1870 (see PHILIPPI, 1. c. p. 744). FUENTES calls the 

 tree »muy escasa», and I have not the slightest doubt that the interesting 

 toromiro is on the verge of extinction, which means the disappearance of a 

 species, important from geographical as well as from ethnological point of view. 



Area of distribution: Endemic. 



