The sophora, or Japanese pagoda tree, is a deciduous tree prized as an ornamental for its rounded crown and its late summer flowering.
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Fabales |
| Family | Fabaceae |
| Genus | Styphnolobium |
| Species | Styphnolobium japonicum |
It is a deciduous tree with a broad, rounded crown, with compound leaves made up of numerous bright green leaflets. In late summer it produces showy clusters of creamy-white flowers, when most trees have already finished flowering.
It is native to China, although it has been cultivated for centuries in Japan, from where its name (“japonicum”) derives, and today it is planted as an ornamental and shade tree in streets and gardens all over the world.
In traditional Chinese medicine its flowers and fruits have been used since ancient times, and in Beijing a historic specimen is preserved, the “guilty tree”, from which the last emperor of the Ming dynasty is said to have hanged himself in 1644.
