Cladrastis kentukea

In North Carolina, Yellowwood is found only in a few of our western-most counties bordering Tennessee, and is among the rarest of our native trees. It is thirty to fifty feet high and nearly that wide at maturity and is prized as an ornamental for its form, for its smooth, Beech-like bark, pendulous strands of very showy, strongly fragrant, white, leguminous flowers in late spring, and its excellent yellow or orange leaf coloration which it often – but not always – shows in the fall. An important feature is its low-branching form, with zigzag stems, but pruning is recommended in early years to improve a tendency for poor branch angle development. The tree will flower when 8-10 years old, with a spectacular display, and will flower heavily every second or third season thereafter. Yellowwood grows at a medium rate and is tolerant of wide pH range. It is deeply rooted (& drought tolerant). It is named for the color of its freshly cut wood. Yellowwood won a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Award in 1994. And, the Society of Municipal Arborists selected Yellowwood as its Urban Tree of the Year for 2015.