LEGUMINOSEAE 185 



separated by marked constrictions in the pods, almost terete or slightly 

 compressed or 4 winged, fleshy, coriaceous or woody, indehiscent. 



22 species distributed throughout the warm parts of the world 

 About 4 ligneous species occur in China. 



Sophora japonica Linnaeus. 

 (Hua Shu.) Pagoda Tree. 



Tree 18 m. tall with tortuous branches and angled dark green 

 branchlets. Leaves deciduous, alternate, odd pinnate, 18-22 -cm. long; 

 leaflets 7-17, entire, 2.5-5 cm. long, stalked, opposite, ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, rounded at the base, dark green above, more or le6s 

 pubescent below. Flowers appearing in midsummer in large terminal 

 panicles, yellowish-white, sometimes tinged with purple, 1.3 cm. long. 

 Pod long stalked, terete, constricted between the seeds, glabrous, 5-8 

 cm. long, tipped with a slight beak. Seeds dark brown, ovate. 



Peking to Hongkong, Kansu to Yunnan. 



Introduced to Japan. The wood is light and tough, used in car- 

 pentry. The flowers and buds yield a yellow dye and the pods an 

 important medicine. The preparation of the dye is very simple. The 

 flowers and buds are baked in an oven until they turn brown, then 

 placed in a pot of cold water and brought to a boil. The liquid is 

 poured into the vats ready for use. The bark, wood and roots contain 

 a purgative property. A fine avenue of Sophora japonica may be seen in 

 the grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Peking. A pendulous form is 

 often planted. 



Propagated by seeds and cuttings. A pound of seeds contains 

 between 3,180 to 4,140 seeds. Germination is slow and uneven. 



ORMOSIA 



Trees. Leaves odd pinnate; leaflets coriaceous. Flowers usually 

 in terminal racemes, papilionaceous; calyx 5 cleft, campanulate; corolla 

 slightly exserted; petals clawed; stamens free, unequal, incurved, 

 exserted in the opening blossom; ovary subsessile; style long, filiform; 

 stigma oblique; pods leathery, woody or fleshy, oblong to linear, 2 

 valved, sometimes septate, sutures not winged. Seeds with bright scarlet 

 testa. 



About 40 species, mostly in the tropics. 



