Pictures of the pagoda tree

The pagoda tree (Sophora japonica) is a deciduous tree of the Fabaceae family. It is extremely common in northern China and is a traditional street tree and shade tree for courtyards. It is long-lived and highly adaptable, and tall old pagoda trees can be seen beside many old villages and ancient temples, which is why it has long been regarded among the people as a native tree species rich in memories.

Looking through pictures of the pagoda tree, the first thing you notice is its upright tree form. The crown is broad and rounded, with dense branches and leaves, and the bark is mostly grayish brown with vertical fissures. Its leaves are pinnately compound, with opposite leaflets and a soft, smooth texture. Every midsummer, pale yellow pea-like flowers bloom on the branches, and afterward strings of bead-like fleshy pods are produced; these are all highly recognizable features in pictures.

The pagoda tree pictures commonly seen online actually cover several different species. In the narrow sense, the pagoda tree refers to the Chinese scholar tree, the kind that blooms with pale yellow flowers in summer; the dragon-claw pagoda tree is a horticultural variety of the Chinese scholar tree, with branches that curve and droop and a crown like an umbrella canopy, and it is often pruned into a topiary tree; the black locust, also called the foreign acacia, blooms with white flowers in strings in spring, with abundant blooms and a fragrance, and people often confuse it with the Chinese scholar tree.

For ordinary readers, the greatest use of pagoda tree pictures is to help with identification and tree selection. For example, if you want to choose a shade tree, you can learn about the size and shape of the crown from pictures; if you want to distinguish the Chinese scholar tree from the black locust, you can compare flower color and blooming period: the one that blooms with white flowers in spring is mostly the black locust, while the one that blooms with pale yellow flowers in summer is the Chinese scholar tree. Once you have grasped these characteristics, you will be able to tell them apart at a glance when browsing various pagoda tree pictures.