''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly included within a broader interpretation of the genus '' Sophora''. The species of ''Styphnolobium'' differ from ''Sophora'' in lacking the ability to form symbioses with rhizobia ( nitrogen fixing

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

) on their roots. It also differs from the related genus '' Calia'' (mescalbeans) in having

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

and flowers in axillary, not terminal, racemes. The leaves are alternate, pinnate, with nine to 21 leaflets, and the flowers in pendulous racemes similar to those of the black locust.

Distribution

''Styphnolobium japonicum'' is native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Despite its Latin name, the species was introduced in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and not originally found there. It is a popular ornamental tree in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, grown for its white flowers, borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering. It grows to 10–20 m tall with an equal spread, and produces a fine, dark brown timber.

Uses

History

Despite its name, the Chinese scholar tree was not the official memorial tree of higher officials in Zhou dynasty China. The tombs of scholars were instead decorated with Koelreuteria paniculata. The Guilty Chinese Scholartree is a historic pagoda tree in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, from which the last emperor of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, Chongzhen, hanged himself in 1644.

Traditional medicine

''S. japonicum'' (; formerly ''Sophora japonica'') is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its fruits have stress resistance and antioxidant properties.

Tea

The flowers and leaves are sometimes used for teas, such as by families in Laoshan Village, Shandong Province, China. It counts as a variety of herbal tea.

Construction uses

The wood is used to make the strong, springy curved "enju wood" handle used on the traditional Japanese woodworking adze, called the chouna. Pagoda wood is very hard after drying. This makes pagoda products durable and long lasting. The pagoda tree trunk is generally composed of alternating ridges of light-brown outside layers and gray brown inside layers. This makes wood carving products, for example from the Hokkaido native Ainu people, very decorative. The Ainu are famous for their carvings of the Blakiston's fish owl.

Chemistry

The dried flower buds may contain as much as 20% rutin with some quercetin. ''S. japonicum'' dried fruit contains the flavonoid glycosides sophoricoside, genistin and rutin and the flavonoid aglycones genistein, quercetin and kaempferol. Another analysis found genistein and genistein glycosides including sophorabioside, sophoricoside, genistein-7-diglucoside, genistein-7-diglucorhamnoside, and kaempferol and the kaempferol glycosides kaempferol-3-sophoroside and kaempferol-3-rhamnodiglucoside. The fruit also contain the alkaloids cytisine, N-methylcytisine, sophocarpine, matrine and stizolamine. The bark contains the allomatrine alkaloid.

References

Citations

General references

External links

''Sophora japonica''

The Evil God in the Pagoda Tree
��Japanese folktale with the pagoda tree at hyakumonogatari.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q288558 Faboideae Flora of China Trees of Korea Garden plants of Asia Medicinal plants Ornamental trees Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Trees of China