Cladrastis 447 



Seedling 



A plant, raised from seed sown at Colesborne on 2nd March, showed the 

 following characters on 7th July : — Root white, fleshy, tapering, 3 inches long, giving 

 off numerous lateral fibres. Caulicle striated, glabrous, i|- inch long. Cotyledons 

 two, sub-sessile, oblong, tapering slightly at the base, broader towards the rounded 

 apex, green above, white beneath, coriaceous, entire. Stem terete, with a few 

 scattered hairs below, densely white pubescent above. Leaves, all with petioles 

 swollen at the base ; first pair opposite, on pubescent stalks, simple, ovate, entire, 

 2 inches long by i^ inch broad. The third, fourth, and fifth leaves are alternate ; 

 the third simple and like the first pair ; the fourth and fifth trifoliolate on a stalk 

 2 inches long, terminal leaflet ovate, lateral leaflets oval and smaller. 



Identification 



Cladrastis tinctoria is readily distinguishable in summer by the pinnate leaves 

 with alternate leaflets, of which the terminal one is directed to one side of the leaf; 

 and by the swollen base of the petiole, which encloses and conceals the buds. 



In winter the following characters are available (Plate 126, fig. 4) : — Twigs zig- 

 zag, shining, brown or grey, terete, glabrous ; lenticels minute, numerous. Leaf-scars 

 alternate, obliquely set on slightly prominent pulvini, oval, whitish, with five bundle- 

 dots on the outer rim, the centre of the scar being occupied by a projecting cone, 

 which consists of four buds compressed together and superposed one above the 

 other, the uppermost one the largest, all pubescent. Terminal bud not formed, the 

 apex of the twig showing a small circular scar or a short stump, indicating where 

 the top of the branchlet fell ofT in early summer. 



Distribution 



Cladrastis tinctoria is one of the rarest trees in the American forest, growing 

 only in a few isolated localities in central Kentucky, central and eastern Tennessee, 

 northern Alabama, and the south-western part of N. Carolina. It is met with on 

 limestone ridges and cliffs, usually in rich soil, and frequently overhangs mountain 

 streams. (A. H.) 



Cultivation 



The yellow-wood is a favourite ornamental tree in American gardens, where, 

 according to Sargent,^ it adapts itself readily to varied conditions of soil and climate, 

 though it requires deep rich soil in order to attain its full size and beauty. It has a 

 tendency, however, which in England is equally marked, to divide into several 

 spreading stems, which are rather brittle and liable to split the trunk. Its long 

 racemes of white fragrant flowers make it a very pretty tree early in June, but in 

 our climate these are not produced as freely as in America, and I have never seen 

 fruit ripened in this country. In autumn the leaves turn a bright yellow. 



' Garden and Fores/, i. p. 92 . 



