Yellowwood Tree

The Yellowwood Tree (Cladrastis kentukea) is a medium-sized, deciduous tree of the legume family with upright low branching and a broad, rounded crown. Panicles of fragrant wisteria like white very fragrant pea shaped spring flowers arrive in late spring, giving way to compound yellow to green foliage that turns bright green in the summer and then yellow in the fall. Autumn seed pods arrive September-October and are yellow, very good fall color. Yellowwood is thought to be our best medium-sized, native flowering tree. Commonly called American yellowwood, Yellowwood gets its common name from the yellow color of its heartwood when freshly cut. Cladrastis means "brittle branch." The root bark of yellowwood was used as a dye by early settlers in the southern Appalachians. The tree's wood was once used to make gun stocks. Yellowwood's fruit is a typical legume pod and ripens in the fall. The wood of this tree contains a yellow dye that distinctively colors the heartwood and gives rise to th