Cladrastis

Cladrastis
File:Cladrastis-kentukea-00.JPG
Cladrastis kentukea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Cladrastis Raf.
Species
See text.

Cladrastis (yellowwood) is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, six native to eastern Asia, and one to southeastern North America.

Species of Cladrastis are small to medium-sized deciduous trees typically growing 10–20 m tall, exceptionally to 27 m tall. The leaves are compound pinnate, with 5–17 alternately arranged leaflets. The flowers are fragrant, white or pink, produced in racemes or panicles 15–40 cm long. The fruit is a pod 3–8 cm long, containing one to six seeds.

Cladrastis is related to the genus Maackia, from which it differs in having the buds concealed in the leaf base, and in the leaflets being arranged alternately on the leaf rachis, not in opposite pairs. The genus name derives from the Greek klados, branch, and thraustos, fragile, referring to the brittle nature of the twigs. The combination of Cladrastis, Pickeringia and Styphnolobium form a monophyletic clade 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.) Prain
• Cladrastis kentukea (Dum. Cours.) Rudd—Southeastern North America.
• Cladrastis parvifolia C.Y. Ma—Guanxi, China.
• Cladrastis platycarpa (Maxim.) Makino—Japan.
• Cladrastis scandens C.Y. Ma—Guizhou, China.
• Cladrastis shikokiana (Makino) Makino—Southern Japan.
• Cladrastis sinensis Hemsl.—China, widespread.
• Cladrastis wilsonii Takeda—Central China.

Further Reading

• Andrews, S. (1997). Trees of the Year: Cladrastis and Maakia. Int. Dendrol. Soc. Year Book 1996: 12–26.
• Spongberg, S. A. & Ma, J.-S. (1997). Cladrastis (Leguminosae subfamily Faboideae tribe Sophoreae): a historic and taxonomic overview. Int. Dendrol. Soc. Year Book 1996: 27–35.