Mid-Atlantic to midwestern U.S.; not abundant.
Rounded crown; 30 to 50 feet (75 feet) tall. slow to moderate growth rate. Notorious for poor branching architecture.
Well-drained soils in full sun; pH tolerant; requires adequate moisture.
Develops weak crotches and therefore requires corrective pruning in summer when young; an excellent, though underused, medium-sized tree. Cladrastis kentukea is a great shade tree for small yards, works well as a specimen tree or in small groupings
Alternate, 8 to 12 inches long, odd-pinnately compound with 7-11 elliptic to ovate leaflets. Leaflets alternate. Yellow fall color.:Bright green in summer:Yellow fall color
Buds are hidden by leaf petiole, brownish black, covered with dense hairs.
Smooth, gray, beech-like. Freshly cut heartwood is yellow. Crushed twig smells like dried beans.
White flowers in pendulous racemes in late May, June. Very attractive and fragrant. Flowering is usually cyclic, 2 to 5 years.
Panicles of 1 to 1.5 inches long, whitish gray pods.
Seed, cuttings.
'Perkins Pink' - Pink flowers.
