“Some of these uses include the treatment of bleeding… hypertension, and dizziness…”– Economic & Ethnobotanical Uses
Full plant, Styphnolobium japonicum (Frank-m, 2009)
Styphnolobium japonicum has at least 34 different synonyms with the most recent and commonly occurring being Sophora japonica (POWO, 2024). Research has been done to show that the genus Sophora has a chromosome count of 28 or variables of 28, yet the reclassified Styphnolobium japonium has only 18 which is not a variable of 28. Styphnolobium also does not harbor the same nitrogen fixing bacteria that Sophora does. Thus, Sophora japonica has officially been reclassified as Styphnolobium japonicum (Santamour and Riedel, 1997).
At the park, it is easy to confuse Styphnolobium japonicum with Gleditsia triacanthos, Honey Locust, as they are both tall trees with compound leaves. The size and number of their leaflets are useful for determining between them. The Japanese Pagoda has 7 – 17 leaflets that are up to 6 cm long while the Honey Locust has 20 – 30 leaflets that are up to 3.5 cm long.
Despite what its scientific name would suggest, S. japonicum is not native to Japan – It is native to China and was introduced and naturalized to Japan in antiquity (POWO, 2024).
Trees only flower once the tree is at least 30-40 years old.
Native
Introduced
Styphnolobium japonicum does best when grown in medium moisture soil that is also well-drained and has full sun. The species can also grow in partial shade and is tolerant of city pollutants. Once the sapling has been established, S. japonicum has also been noted to be heat tolerant and able to survive a partial drought (MBG, n.d.). The flowers usually bloom between July and August and the fruit matures during August to October.
Styphnolobium japonicum is not a threatened species (POWO, 2024).
