There are three large Japanese Pagoda, also known as Chinese Scholar trees just beyond the Caucasian Wingnut, and maybe another, much smaller, 'Pendula' further up the slope, again with green shoots. Styphnolobium japonicum or Sophora japonica is actually from China. The species of the new genus Styphnolobium differ from Sophora in lacking the ability to form symbiotic nodules with rhizobia (nitrogen fixing bacteria) on their roots.
The buds are almost entirely hidden within the leaf-bases.
There was a historic "Chinese Scholar" Tree in Beijing, on which the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, hanged himself in 1644, at least according to some reports. There is also a record in a Chinese book published 1500 years ago, the Jin Shu, of these trees, and of poplars, planted alongside roads in cities for shade. It has also got a wide range of uses in Chinese medicine. It contains Rutin and it has been used as an abortifacient, and a dozen other uses. Although it is native to China, it is thought to have been much planted around Buddhist temples in particular in Japan, hence its better known name as Japanese Pagoda tree.
The tree can grow to a reasonable size. When grown in the open, it tends to branch quite low down, as here, but in a wood a tall straight trunk can be formed. The bark is attractively patterned to my eye "the young bark is pale gray, becoming furrowed into fibrous, interlaced, scaly ridges" (Colorado State University):
The pale creamy off-white flowers can be quite a picture in late summer/early autumn. The leaves and flowers are edible, but the pods are apparently toxic. The tree was introduced to the UK in 1753 and Kew has a tree planted in 1760, reputedly by James Gordon, a famous nurseryman, well propped up now! There is another supposedly old tree near St. Albans, http://www.chilternsaonb.org/ccbmaps/592/137/abbey-pagoda-tree.html, which might conceivably also be a Gordon introduction.
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