More Urban Species: Pagoda Tree/Scholar Tree

[urbpan]

A group of seven pagoda trees planted along rt.9 in Brookline.

Pagoda Tree, Scholar Tree Styphnolobium japonica

It is with self-deprecating amusement that I'm posting this "new" urban species. The pagoda tree has been cultivated in North America since 1747 (preceding the United States by 29 years) and in Asia for at least 2000 years before that. It gets its common names from its association with Buddhist temples and the graves of learned men. In Asia it also has a long history of medicinal uses, which include everything from curing headaches to inducing abortions. Western medicine has identified some of the pagoda tree's components, testing them for use in treating inflammatory bowel disease and varicose veins. The yellow flowers (similar to, but less dramatic than those of black locust) can be eaten (caution is advised, as the whole plant is toxic to some degree) and can also be used to make dye.

The tree is tolerant of pollution and poor soils, making it a tempting choice for urban landscape architects who want to add an exotic accent to an open area (and don't mind the clean-up of hundreds of fallen pods). The foliage, like that of honey locust, consists of small leaflets, allowing sunlight to filter down to the turf below. The beanlike fruit is distinctive, with the pod pinched around most seeds, looking like pearls on a string.




Bernheim arboretum: http://www.bernheim.org/Styphonolobium_japonica.htm
University of Connecticut: http://www.hort.uconn.edu/Plants/s/sopjap/sopjap1.html
Plants for a Future: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Sophora+japonica
Ray Sahelian M.D.: http://www.raysahelian.com/rutin.html
Thanks again to bezigebij for making the identification in this post.


On this day in 365 Urban Species: Eyelash cup, an amazing and beautiful little mushroom that seems to give people the creeps.

Comments

[interglossa.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the neat links, especially Ray Sahelian site as the herbal medicine angle is always of interest.

[chocomocha.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous photos!

I'm wondering, though: Do the pods turn a deep brown and shrivel/flatten up before they fall? I have a work study job in South Boston (right off the Broadway stop on the Red Line) and - if that's what they are - I walk over considerable amounts of these things. I swear, I thought someone went crazy tossing away banana peels the first I encountered them!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Nope, the deep brown, flat, banana shaped ones come from honey locust (much more common in the city!)

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

Why are they constantly changing the names of plants? Plant taxonomists exhaust me. They identify an extra stamen or something and suddenly they create a new species. Seriously, what used to be Chrysanthemum is now Leucanthemum or Rhodanthemum or Argyranthemum. And who knows if you're supposed to say Actaea or Cimicifuga anymore.

Psst, I think you've got an extra "o" in Styphnolobium.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Right you are! I copy/pasted it from the Bernheim arboretum site, one of 132 sites to make that spelling error. As if it wasn't confusing enough!