EARN OQ ee 
See Map: M 
JAPANESE PAGODATREE 
(CHINESE SCHOLARTREE) 
Sophora japonica 
Despite its misleading name, Sophora 
japonica is native to Korea and northern 
China. Its cultivation outside the natural 
range, such as in Japan, is ancient and 
often associated with Buddhist temples. 
The fragrant, creamy-white, pealike 
flowers in great clusters cover the trees 
during July, August, and sometimes Sep- 
tember, and then blanket the ground like a 
hot-weather snowfall. The flowers and 
sometimes other parts of the tree are 
sources of dyes, which were once exported 
to Europe from the Orient. You may notice 
“dyed” pavement under Sophora trees. 
As with many other legumes (see Yellowwood, page 40, for more on 
legumes), the “business” parts of the flower (the stamens and pistil, which 
produce and receive pollen respectively), lie as a bundle in an upward- 
opening pouch a little like a hotdog in a bun. The weight of a visiting 
insect pushes the pouch (the bun) downward, exposing the stamens and 
pistil; these brush against the underside of the bug, picking up pollen 
carried from other flowers and applying new pollen for transport to the 
next flower in the visitor's itinerary. 
Besides the splendid, late flowers, Sophora japonica offers dark green 
foliage, which looks desperately wilted at night and restiffens by day, and 
stays green into autumn. Novel, knobby, beanlike fruits and tolerance for 
city conditions are additional attractive points. But landscapers beware: 
the tree is poisonous. Among other toxins, Sophora contains substances 
that alter the blood. The wood is sufficiently nasty to sicken woodwork- 
ers, and fallen leaves poison water in wells. 
_ Sophora japonica is a traditional planting at graves of Chinese high 
officials, which could be why the great 18th-century naturalist Linnaeus 
chose the name Sophora, with the explanation that it is “a genus sopho- 
rum, or of wise men”. More likely, Linnaeus’s reference acknowledges 
the wisdom needed to classify the tree and related species rather than the 
sagacity of Chinese leaders. Japonica reflects ancient cultivation of the 
species in Japan. 
Winter Summer 
20 
we 
