BlueBell Arboretum & Nursery

Mail order trees, shrubs, conifers and woody climbers

Description

An unusual tree native to parts of Eastern Asia, Sophora japonica has rich green, pinnate leaves up to 30 cm long and mature plants produce large clusters of lovely pea-shaped white flowers after a hot summer. Established plants have a wonderful, gnarled habit and in our opinion, this is one of the most beautiful flowering trees available.

Features

• Common name: Pagoda Tree
• Position: Full sun.
• Soil: Well drained, fertile soils.
• Hardiness: Hardy.
• Flowering Period: August - October.
• Flower Colour: White
• Rate of Growth: Moderate.
• Habit: Eventually a medium sized, branching tree with a rounded habit once established.
• Height: up to 15 m (50 ft)
• Spread: 10 m (32 ft)
• Notes: Sophora japonica can take many years to start flowering. This plant is also known as Styphnolobium japonicum.
• Supplied Size: out of stock

Further Information

One of the most beautiful of all flowering trees with six to ten inch long panicles of creamy white flowers in late summer on established trees in warm sites. Alas this species rarely flowers before it is less than thirty years old but is worth considering growing for the lovely pinnate foliage.

Despite its' specific name 'japonica', it is from China and is probably not native to Japan although it is nowadays widely planted there.

Until being uprooted during the cultural revolution in the 1960's there was a venerable specimen in Beijing known as the 'Guilty Chinese Scholar Tree' which became a national landmark. The last Ming Chongzen Emperor is said to have hanged himself on this tree after a group of peasants stormed the Forbidden City in 1644.

Sophora is a member of the important family of plants known as Leguminosae. All species in this group, known as legumes and including familiar plants such as peas and beans along with many ornamental plants like Wisteria and Robinia have nitrogen fixing bacteria in root nodules allowing them to flourish in poor soils.

Extract from an information poster in our arboretum