Cladrastis kentukea

American yellowwood is one of the loveliest and least common of our native trees, a broad, round-headed deciduous tree grown for three good seasons of interest. In late spring, usually May, long pendulous panicles of white, pea-like flowers hang from the branch tips, sweetly fragrant and wisteria-like, a spectacle in the years the tree chooses to flower heavily. Summer brings clean, bright-then-deep green compound foliage, and autumn a dependable, clear golden yellow that is among the best fall color of any hardwood. The smooth gray bark, beech-like, holds the winter garden.

The name comes from the wood: freshly cut, the heartwood is a clear yellow that once yielded a natural dye. Cladrastis kentukea is native to scattered limestone woodlands of the southern and central United States, genuinely rare in the wild, yet long a favorite ornamental far to the north, hardy well into the cold. The tree takes many soils but is happiest on the rich, well-drained, higher-pH ground of the native haunts.

In the garden, give yellowwood a sunny, open spot with room to spread the wide, low crown, a lawn specimen, a shade tree, or the centerpiece of a large border. Prune only in summer, since the tree bleeds sap heavily if cut in late winter, and train early for strong, wide-angled branches, as the wood can be brittle. A refined, four-season native worth the wait for the flowering years.