Yellowwood
Cladrastis kentukea
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Yellowwood grows from North Carolina to Kentucky and Tennessee. It's also scattered throughout Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. It is rare throughout its range. Yellowwood prefers partial to full sun and deep, well-drained soils.
Fruit: A 6-10 cm long, flat, narrow legume. They ripen in early fall but are persistent.
Flowers: A 1" white flower arranged in drooping panicles up to 12". They bloom in late spring or early summer, but often only bloom every 2-3 years.
Uses: Yellowwood is planted as an ornamental and a shade tree.
Ethnobotany: The wood was used by the Cherokee for carving and building structures. The root bark was used as dye by early Appalachian settlers. The wood was used to make gun stocks in the past.
Importance to wildlife: The flowers attract pollinators.
The bark of a yellowwood. Bark is smooth and gray. On older trees, the bark may become pebbly.
A single leaf on a yellowwood. Leaves have 7-9 leaflets.
A single leaflet on a yellowwood. Leaflets are 6-10 cm long, entire, and obovate to oblong-obovate.
Leaflet arrangement along the petioles. Leaflets are arranged alternately within the leaf.
The leaf scar on a yellowwood. Leaf scars are C-shaped and nearly surround the bud.
The same leaf scar from a side angle, showing the bud. The bud is cone-shaped and has brown hairs.
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