One dictionary says � is the Chinese scholartree (why is scholartree one word?), the other says it is Sophora japonica (pagoda tree). Wikipedia only confuses the issue with this:
Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott, the Pagoda Tree (Chinese Scholar, Japanese pagodatree; syn. Sophora japonica), is native to eastern Asia (mainly China; despite the name, it is introduced in Japan), is a popular ornamental tree in Europe and North America, grown for its white flowers, borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering. It makes a broad, spreading tree to 10-20 m tall and as much broad.
Still, it seems that the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree are one and the same.
My big dictionary also has “scholartree” as one word, although I’d always write such a compound with a space between the elements myself. My Longman illustrated dictionary calls it the pagoda tree and writes that as two words.
The illustrated dictionary has æ´‹æ§? “locust tree” (aka 刺æ§?), but the big dictionary lists the former as “acacia” (which is what’s on a jar of honey in my possession) and the latter as “locust tree”. wikipedia isn’t of much help in this instance. Seems they both belong to the same family of trees.
The name of the lane that led to 麦å›è·¯ from the school in Fuzhou was æ§?阴路. I assume that those trees which weren’t banyans must’ve been scholar trees.
It’s actually a minor issue in the piece I’m working on at the moment, and I’m sticking with scholar tree just because it sounds the coolest.
Whether æ´‹æ§? is locust tree or acacia, the name suggests it’s not native to China and was brought here by those evil Western imperialists.