Cladrastis kentukea
Phytologia 21: 327. 1971. (as kentuckea)
Trees to 20 m, canopy to 16 m, rounded; bark gray to gray-brown, thin, smooth. Stems reddish brown when young. Leaves 20–26 cm; buds pubescent, hairs rusty; petiole green to greenish brown, (1–)3.3–5 cm, glabrous; leaflets: pulvinus glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs yellow to rusty; proximal blades ovate, 30–95 × 25–60 mm, terminal blades obovate, ovate, elliptic, or broadly elliptic, 60–170 × 50–110 mm, base rounded or acute, apex acuminate, surfaces sparsely to densely pubescent abaxially at base near or on midvein, hairs white, glabrous adaxially. Peduncles 1.5–8 cm. Panicles pendulous, 20–50 × 7–22 cm. Pedicels 1–2 cm. Flowers: calyx 7.2–11.2 × 9.6–14.9 mm, densely pubescent, hairs white to yellow; abaxial lobe 0.4–2.4 × 0.9–2.7 mm; lateral lobes 1.1–2.5 × 2.2–3.2 mm; adaxial lobes 1–2.4 × 2.4–6.7 mm; corolla 10–19 mm, banner reflexed, orbiculate, 12.3–18.3 × 10–15.7 mm, base cuneate, claw 4–7 mm; wings lanceolate, 12–18.9 × 5.1–7.7 mm, base auriculate, claw 5–8 mm; keel lanceolate, 10.7–18.2 × 6.1–9 mm, base auriculate, margins overlapping, folded together; stamens unequal; ovary densely pubescent, hairs white or yellow. Legumes 70–80 mm, base cuneate, apex acute. 2n = 28.
Phenology: Flowering May; fruiting Sep–Oct.
Habitat: Mesic broadleaf forests.
Elevation: 20–1200 m.
Distribution
Ala., Ark., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn.
Discussion
Populations of Cladrastis kentukea in Brown County State Park and the Yellowwood State Forest in Indiana are the northernmost native occurrences (H. H. Huffman 1986). Reports from Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island appear to be from cultivated and/or escaped plants.
The habitat of Cladrastis kentukea varies; it is typically found along river bluffs and in openings in mesophytic cove forests in association with major drainage areas (J. D. Pittillo 1963; H. H. Huffman 1986). It is not a common tree in the wild but is widely cultivated as an ornamental (G. Krüssmann 1984–1986, vol. 1; D. R. Hershey 1977; M. Griffiths 1994; E. F. Gilman 1997).
Cladrastis albiflora Rafinesque and Virgilia dumontii Rafinesque are superfluous and illegitimate names that pertain here.
Selected References
None.