''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

, eight native to eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, and one to southeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s typically growing 10–20 m tall, exceptionally to 27 m tall. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are compound pinnate, with 5–17 alternately arranged leaflets. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are fragrant, white or pink, produced in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s or

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s 15–40 cm long. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a pod 3–8 cm long, containing one to six seeds. ''Cladrastis'' is related to the genus ''

Maackia ''Maackia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. There are about 12 species, all native to eastern Asia, with six endemic to China.Pickeringia ''Pickeringia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It was recently assigned to the unranked, monophyletic ''Cladrastis'' clade. It was named after the naturalist Charles Pickering. Its only species is ''Pic ...

'' and ''

Styphnolobium ''Styphnolobium'' is a small genus of three or four species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, formerly included within a broader interpretation of the genus ''Sophora''. It was recently assigned to t ...

'' form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

known as the ''Cladrastis'' clade; as the other two originated from within ''Cladrastis'', ''Cladrastis'' is paraphyletic.

Species

''Cladrastis'' comprises the following species: * '' Cladrastis chingii'' Duley & Vincent * '' Cladrastis delavayi'' (Franch.) PrainSome sources treat ''Cladrastis delavayi'' as a synonym of ''Cladrastis sinensis''. * ''

Cladrastis kentukea ''Cladrastis kentukea'', the Kentucky yellowwood or American yellowwood (syn. ''C. lutea'', ''C. tinctoria''), is a species of ''Cladrastis'' native to the Southeastern United States, with a restricted range from western North Carolina west to e ...

'' (Dum. Cours.) Rudd—Southeastern North America. * '' Cladrastis parvifolia'' C.Y. Ma—Guanxi, China. * '' Cladrastis platycarpa'' (Maxim.) Makino—Japan. * ''

Cladrastis scandens ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' C.Y. Ma—Guizhou, China. * ''

Cladrastis shikokiana ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' (Makino) Makino—Southern Japan. * ''

Cladrastis sinensis ''Cladrastis'' (yellowwood) is a genus of nine species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, eight native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America. Species of ''Cladrastis'' are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically ...

'' Hemsl.—China, widespread. * '' Cladrastis wilsonii'' Takeda—Central China.

Species

References

Further reading