Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. XI FEBRUARY, 1923 No. 2 
YELLOW-WOOD 
The genus Cladrastis has frequently been called the ‘‘Queen 
of Beauty’’ of the pod-bearing trees. It is represented by 
four species found in North America and eastern Asia, but 
the yellow-wood, Cladrastis lutea, is the most common in this 
country. This species is native to the hilltops of Tennessee, 
Kentucky, and North Carolina, where it is found growing on 
the banks of mountain streams and at the edges of wood- 
lands. It is one of the most beautiful of the native flowering 
trees, possessing a wide graceful head upon a moderately short 
trunk. It is often cultivated as a specimen tree for open 
lawns and is particularly attractive during the flowering 
period when flanked with evergreens. 
An old specimen of yellow-wood may be found at the Gar- 
den growing south of the main entrance near the stone wall. 
That this tree must have been prized by Henry Shaw is shown 
by the care taken for its preservation during the erection of 
the stone wall. The tree has attained its maximum develop- 
ment, reaching forty feet in height and the spread of branches 
about equalling the height. It is supported by a trunk two 
and one-half feet in diameter which is biforked three feet 
from the ground, the two branches measuring one and one-half 
feet in diameter. Unfortunately, despite surgical treatment, 
the tree is showing signs of rapid deterioration, and the re- 
moval of one of its main branches has been necessary. How- 
ever, with its thousands of wistaria-like festoons of white 
flowers, it still presents a picturesque appearance in the 
spring. 
Description.—Small tree, rarely reaching 50 feet in height ; 
wood yellow, covered with smooth bark similar to that of the 
beech; branches graceful, slim and pendulous; leaflets ovate 
or oval, glabrous, shiny green, 3-4 inches long; panicles loose, 
drooping, 10-20 inches long; flowers white, fleeey and ex- 
tremely fragrant, blooming in June; pods persistent, delicate, 
thin, containing very few seeds. The wood yields a clear 
yellow dye. (17) 
