Yellowwood tree, also commonly known as American yellowwood, is a shade tree with a showy floral display in spring and in autumn when the leaves turn yellow-orange.
Yellowwood is a medium- to large-sized tree, 30 to 50 feet high, with smooth bark, large hanging clusters of fragrant white flowers, and clear yellow fall color.
Cladrastis kentukea, commonly called American yellowwood, is a medium-sized, deciduous tree of the legume family that typically grows 30-50’ tall with upright branching and a broad, rounded crown.
Yellowwood is a native tree with an open graceful, spreading crown with three seasons of interest. The hanging panicles of flowers in the spring become hanging yellow-brown fruits, and leaf color becomes yellow-orange in the fall. The smooth gray bark adds winter interest.
Yellowwood provides four seasons of interest because its smooth, light gray bark is attractive in winter, similar to that of beech trees. The heartwood is yellow and has been used to make dyes, as well as giving this tree its common name.
A fine tree for the landscape, Cladrastis kentukea (Yellowwood) is a medium-sized, deciduous tree with a broad-rounded crown of graceful, upward-spreading branches clothed with pinnately-compound leaves.
Yellowwood is a medium-sized, deciduous tree of the legume family with upright branching and a broad, rounded crown. Yellowwood is named for its unique yellow interior wood. Leaves are pinnately compound usually with 7-11 leaflets. They open as yellowish-green then turn bright green in summer.
Complete Yellowwood tree guide covering planting, care, benefits & beauty. Learn about this stunning native species with fragrant flowers, wildlife habitat value & climate benefits.
This species can make an outstanding mid-size tree for the home or other urban landscape. Yellowwood can exhibit one of the most spectacular flowering displays of any tree species, and its multiple trunk habit and attractive framework of branches make it a striking specimen or shade tree.