Sophora toromiro is a small tree which only grows on the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Isla de Pascua), which is one of the most isolated islands, 3.526 km from the chilean coast, 4.251 km from Tahiti and 2.081 km to Pitcairn, the nearest islands. The first Polynesians settled there between the 5th and the 6th century. There is much to say about the history but this would brake the mold.
Interesting is also that the Polynesians highly probable had contact to the Inka, who made voyages into the pacific because the South American batatas were found there.
Because of the isolation, less than 30 indigenous seed plants were found, mostly spread by birds, but most important carrier of plant material were the first settlers with the species Broussonetia papyrifera, Ipomoea batatas, Dioscorea sp. and Colocasia esculenta.
Toromiro was thought to be extinct in the wild, but then 1955-56 the Norwegian archeologist and explorer Thor Heyerdahl collected seeds from the last survivor of this species. It is from Heyerdahl collection that the present European stocks of cultivated Toromiro descend.
Toromiro-seeds:
Toromiro-seed-surface, 24-fold:
Toromiro-seed-surface, 55-fold: