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Cladrastis kentukea
yellowwood
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Image © www.windroseseattle.com
Image © www.windroseseattle.com
Image © www.windroseseattle.com |
Printer-friendly Fact Sheet
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| Outstanding Qualities |
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Native to Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, yellowwood is a tree not commonly found in the Pacific Northwest, it’s time for that to change. In late spring, Cladrastris kentukea bursts forth with deliciously fragrant, white, wisteria-like blossoms that hang 6-10 inches in length, backdropped by brilliant bright-green leaves, each with 7 to 9 leaflets. In autumn the leaves develop golden yellow tones before dropping to carpet the earth below. Also handsome in winter, with its broad rounded canopy and distinctive vase-shaped branching, its mature bark is smooth and gray in color. Cladrastis kentukea is useful in the landscape as a specimen shade tree, or if you have the space plant it as part of a grove. Combines beautifully when underplanted with spring flowering bulbs, hostas, ferns and hellebores. Yellowwood is so named because the freshly cut wood is bright yellow in color and is used for fine woodworking. |
| Culture |
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Yellowwoods tolerate a variety of soils but grow best in fertile, well drained soil in full sun. It is best to shelter from strong winds as mature limbs can sometimes be brittle. Prune in summer to avoid heavy bleeding that occurs in winter and spring. |
| Growing Habit |
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Cladrastis kentukea is a medium sized, deciduous tree with a graceful upright spreading habit. Its canopy is broad and rounded with fine vase-shaped branching. At maturity it is 40 feet tall by 30 feet wide. |
| Hardiness |
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USDA zones 4 to 8 |
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© 2009 Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden
Funded by the Pendleton and Elisabeth Carey Miller Charitable Foundation
Administered by the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden