Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon, USA

Common name: Japanese Pagoda Tree

Family: Fabaceae

Distribution: China, Korea

Habitat: Mixed deciduus open woodlands, occurring up to 1000m

IUCN Red list: Not evaluated

Hardiness: Zone 4b -25 to -20 F

Life form: Deciduous tree

Usage: Ornamental shade tree

Comments: Japanese pagoda-tree is a medium to large deciduous tree, native to China and Korea, but not Japan, that typically matures to 50-75’ 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, remain attractive throughout the growing season. Leaves retain green color late into fall, resulting in no fall color 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.
Best grown in rich, medium moisture, well-drained sandy loams in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Tolerant of common city pollutants and conditions. Once established, it is also tolerant of heat and some drought.