520 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



YELLOW WOOD 



Virgilia, Gopher Wood. 

 Cladrastis lutea (Mx. f.) Koch. 



HABIT A small tree under 50 ft. in height with trunk diameter of 

 1-2 ft.; trunk generally dividing low down into several slightly 

 spreading limbs with numerous slender more or less zigzag branches, 

 the lower often strongly declined, forming a broad rounded head. 



BARK Thin, gray to light brown, in general smooth, resembling 

 bark of the Beech with slight protuberances or ridges and horizontal 

 wrinkles. 



TWIGS Rather slender, more or less zigzag, brittle, smooth bright 

 reddish-brown, covered often by a grayish skin, odor and taste resembl- 

 ing that of a raw dried pea or bean. LENTICELS pale, scattered, 

 generally conspicuous. PITH wide, white, round in section. 



LEAF-SCARS Alternate, 2-ranked, or more than 2-ranked, raised, 

 pale yellow, forming a V-shaped collar of almost uniform diameter 

 nearly encircling the bud. STIPULE-SCARS absent. BUNDLE-SCARS 

 typically 5 (4-9) generally regularly spaced and raised or at times 

 some of the five indistinct or lacking." 



BUDS Terminal bud absent, lateral buds naked, superposed, 3-4, 

 the uppermost the largest and generally alone developing, flattened, 

 closely packed together to form a pointed bud-like hairy cone generally 

 under 5 mm. long, nearly surrounded by the leaf-scar. BUD-SCALES 

 absent, their place taken by the densely hairy immature leaves. 



FRUIT A smooth flat margined pod 5-10 cm. long, containing a few 

 small oblong compressed seeds. 



COMPARISONS The Yellow Wood is well characterized by its 

 beech-like bark, its slender twigs, and its superposed hairy buds closely 

 clustered into a bud-like cone and practically surrounded by the leaf- 

 scar and is therefore scarcely to be confused with any other tree. 



DISTRIBUTION In rich soil, limestone ridges and often along 

 mountain streams, rare and local. Western North Carolina, Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri; often cultivated in New England as an 

 ornamental tree. 



WOOD Heavy, very hard, strong and close-grained, with a smooth, 

 satiny surface, bright clear yellow changing to light brown on ex- 

 posure, with thin nearly white sapwood; used for fuel, occasionally for 

 gun stocks and yielding a clear yellow dye. 



