Japanese Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium japonicum): Scholar Tree

Japanese pagoda tree, or Chinese scholar tree, is a deciduous tree native to China and Korea, planted at temples and scholar gardens, with creamy summer flowers and interesting pods.

Botanical Profile

Description and Features

This tree grows 50–75 feet tall with a broad, rounded crown. Leaves are pinnate, dark green. Flowers are creamy white, pea-like, in large panicles in mid-summer. Pods are bead-like, constricted between seeds, persistent. Bark is gray, furrowed.

Cultivation and Uses

Pagoda tree prefers full sun, well-drained soil. Tolerates pollution, drought. Used as a shade tree, street tree. The flower buds are used in traditional medicine. Wood is durable.

Note

Recently reclassified from Sophora to Styphnolobium.