Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cladrastis kentukea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more about Kentucky Yellowwood from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Yellowwood is one of the rarest native trees in the eastern United States. Read more at Tree Talk, from University of Kentucky and Lexington community "tree-people".
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cladrastis kentukea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cladrastis kentukea
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Cladrastis lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-08-001:
Cladrastis lutea FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cladrastis lutea
COMMON NAME:
Kentucky Yellowwood, Gopherwood
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_651
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_cllu_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_cllu_003_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm160422_055
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cladrastis_kentukea_3
April
Bark smooth, light brown to gray, somewhat resembling American beech, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm0305r_20
May Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_kentukea_5_14_06_1
May
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_cladrastis_kentukea_2
May
A drooping 4-12" inflorescence of showy, fragrant flowers, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Ron Lance rwl333_a
May
Flowers heavily in alternate years, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm060701_001
July Spartanburg County SC
Wofford College
)
JK Marlow s060701_c
July Spartanburg County SC
Wofford College
Leaves with 7 to 11 leaflets arranged alternately along rachis, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
COMPARE
pinnately compound leaves of trees
)
JK Marlow s060701_d
July Spartanburg County SC
Wofford College
Fruit a thin, flattened legume similar to that of redbud, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow s060701_fg
July Spartanburg County SC
Wofford College
)
JK Marlow jkm140814_578
August Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Several Yellowwood trees are planted on Greenville's popular rail-to-trail.
)
JK Marlow jkm140814_580
August Greenville County SC
In cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm140814_581
August Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Petioles are enlarged at base and summit, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_kentukea_12_10_05_1
December Fulton County GA
Chattahoochee Nature Center
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_kentukeax_121005_5
December Fulton County GA
Chattahoochee Nature Center
Buds enclosed within hollow base of petiole, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Cladrastis kentukea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Cladrastis kentukea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Cladrastis kentukea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Cladrastis lutea
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-08-001:
Cladrastis lutea
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cladrastis lutea
333
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: Mountain forests, Piedmont bluffs, especially on calcareous or mafic rocks (introduced only in the Piedmont of NC), per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare or waif(s)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: (5)7-9(11) leaflets
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
White
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
10 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p064
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p284
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p094
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p128
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p398
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p087
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p020
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p143
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p074
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p122
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p08
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p234
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p104
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