Styphnolobium is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It includes nine species of small trees and shrubs native to China and to the Americas, from the southern United States to Colombia.[1] It belongs to subfamily Faboideae, and was formerly included within a broader interpretation of the genus Sophora. It was recently assigned to the unranked, monophyletic Cladrastis clade.[2][3][4] They differ from the genus Calia (mescalbeans) in having deciduous leaves and flowers in axillary, not terminal, racemes. The leaves are pinnate, with 9–21 leaflets, and the flowers in pendulous racemes similar to those of the black locust. Necklacepod is a common name for plants in this genus.[5]
Styphnolobium | |
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Styphnolobium japonicum foliage | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Clade: | Cladrastis clade |
Genus: | Styphnolobium Schott (1829) |
Type species | |
Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott
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Species[1] | |
9; see text | |
Synonyms | |
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From Greek styphno-, stryphno- "sour, astringent" and lobion "pod", because of the fresh pods' pulp taste.[6]
Styphnolobium comprises the following species:[7][8][9]
The pagoda tree is widely used in bonsai gardening. The Guilty Chinese Scholartree was a historic pagoda tree in Beijing, on which the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, hanged himself.
Styphnolobium japonicum (Chinese: 槐; pinyin: huái; formerly Sophora japonica) is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Media related to Styphnolobium japonicum at Wikimedia Commons