Evidence for long-distance dispersal of Sophora microphylla to sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island

Abstract

A seed probably of kowhai (Sophora microphylla), was found on a lake shore at Macquarie Island.The species does not occur on the island, and the seed may have been carried there by a bird that found it at sea.It shows how two consecutively acting long-distance dispersal agents may have facilitated colonization of oceanic islands by the Edwardsia group of Sophora species. © 2012 The Royal Society of New Zealand.