Styphnolobium japonicum - Pagoda Tree
Styphnolobium is a small genus of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, formerly included within a broader interpretation of the genus Sophora. The species of Styphnolobium differ from Sophora in lacking Rhizobium nitrogen fixing bacteria on the roots. The leaves are pinnate, with 9-21 leaflets, and the flowers in pendulous racemes similar to those of the related Black locust.
The Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum, formerly Sophora japonica), native to Japan and China, is a popular ornamental tree in Europe and North America, grown for its white flowers, borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering. It makes a broad, spreading tree to 10-20 m tall and as much broad.
The Pagoda Tree is considered to be one of the best trees to use in the art of bonsai.
See also
The Guilty Chinese Scholartree, a specimen of Pagoda Tree in Beijing, on which the last Ming emperor Chongzhen hanged himself.
External link
Last updated: 08-30-2005 21:28:16
