Horticulture: Sometimes
also called the "scholar tree," it is frequently planted around
Buddhist temples in the Orient. A yellow dye is made by simply baking the
flowers until they are brown, and then boiling them in water. This valuable
ornamental is not used in the urban landscape as often as it ought to be.
It is tolerant of pollution and, because it casts a light shade, allows
turf grasses to grow up to the trunk. Although the leaves, flowers, pods
and rachises all fall at different times, Sophora japonica is not
generally considered to be a messy tree as the leaves are smallish and the
flowers rather attractive as they carpet the ground. Cultivars include 'Regent,'
a fast-growing, young bloomer with abundant flowers and 'Pendula,' a small,
weeping variety that seldom flowers.
Pictured here are the Japanese pagoda trees south of Parks Library, near the Hub.
