Japanese Pagoda Tree
Styphnolobium japonicum · Fabaceae · 회화나무
How to spot it
Characterized by young twigs that stay green for several years, pinnate compound leaves, and bead-like pods constricted between the seeds.
(original photo, new tab)Leaf · Photo Yoko Nekonomania · CC BY 2.0 
(original photo, new tab)Leaf · Photo Jebulon · CC BY-SA 3.0 
(original photo, new tab)Bark · Photo Kritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0 
(original photo, new tab)Bark · Photo KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0
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Look
- Leaves
- Alternate pinnate compound leaves with 7 to 17 leaflets.
- Flowers
- Faintly fragrant cream-colored pea-like flowers gather in large panicles at the ends of branches.
- Fruit
- Hanging pods are constricted between the seeds like a string of beads, and turn from green to yellowish brown.
- Bark
- Gray-brown bark with deep cracks and ridges; the furrows are reddish brown.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Planted (Hanbat Arboretum)
- Native to
- NC State gives a native range in north-central, south-central and southeastern China.
- Ecology
- In its native China it grows in thickets and rocky mountain-slope forests, and the flowers attract bees.
Famous Japanese Pagoda Tree trees in Korea
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Sinhyeon-dong, IncheonNatural Monument No. 315 · about 500 years · Sinhyeon-dong, Seohae-gu, Incheon
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Samwol-ri, DangjinNatural Monument No. 317 · about 500 years · Dangjin-si, Chungcheongnam-do
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Yeongdong-ri, HamanNatural Monument No. 319 · about 500 years · Chilbuk-myeon, Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do
- Japanese Pagoda Trees of Gunseo, YeonggwangProvincial Monument · about 400 years · Gunseo-myeon, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Yuktong-ri, WolseongNatural Monument No. 318 · about 400 years · Angang-eup, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
- Japanese Pagoda Tree Group of Changdeokgung PalaceNatural Monument No. 472 · Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Dongbu-ri, GijangProvincial Monument · Gijang-gun, Busan
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Haemieupseong Fortress, SeosanProvincial Monument · Haemi-myeon, Seosan-si, Chungcheongnam-do
- Japanese Pagoda Tree of Yangnam-ri, YeongcheonProvincial Monument · Geumho-eup, Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
Sources
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- 국립수목원 국가표준재배식물목록(개정)
- 대전광역시 한밭수목원, 제4차 수목원진흥실시계획(2019–2023)
- 대구광역시 (2019), 제2차 대구광역시 도시림 등 조성·관리계획
- Utah State University / TreeBrowser: Pagodatree, Japanese or Scholar-tree
- 한국농촌경제연구원 — 조경수 관측월보 2025년 12월(한국조경수협회 게시 원문)
- 국가유산청 보도자료
- 한국민족문화대백과사전 '창덕궁 회화나무군'
- 한국민족문화대백과사전 '함안 영동리 회화나무'
- 국가유산청 국가유산 공개API — 천연기념물 창덕궁 회화나무 군 설명