Sophora japonica Japanese pagoda tree 100 - 500 seeds
Sophora japonica, commonly called Japanese pagoda tree or Chinese scholar tree, is native to China and Korea, but not Japan. It is a medium to large deciduous tree that typically matures to 50-75’ (less frequently to 100’) tall with a broad rounded crown. It is generally cultivated for its attractive compound foliage and fragrant late summer flowers. Pinnate leaves (to 10” long), each with 7-17 oval, lustrous, dark green leaflets, remacolor or at best an undistinguished greenish yellow. Small, fragrant, pea-like, creamy white flowers (each 1/2” long) bloom in late summer in sweeping terminal panicles to 12” long and to 12” wide. Flowers fall to the ground around the tree after bloom covering the ground with a blanket of white. Flowers give way to slender, 1- to 6-seeded, knobby, bean-like pods (to 3-8” long) that mature to brown in fall and persist into winter. Although not native to Japan, the specific epithet and common name seem to recognize the early use of the tree in Japan around Buddhist temples.
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 50.00 to 75.00 feet
Spread: 50.00 to 75.00 feet
Bloom Time: July to August
Bloom Description: Creamy white
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Shade Tree, Street Tree
Flower: Showy
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Drought, Air Pollution
Growing Info, follow in order:
Scarification: Soak in hot tap water, let stand in water for 12 hours. If the seed fails to imbibe, boiling water may be required.
Stratification: none required.
Germination: sow seed 1/4" deep, tamp the soil, mulch the seed bed.
Other: Hardness of seedcoat will determine how much scarification is required.in attractive throughout the growing season. Leaves retain green color late into fall, resulting in no fall