Identifying characteristics:
The yellowwood is a medium-sized deciduous tree to 50 feet tall with a broad,
rounded crown and a trunk that usually ends a few feet from the ground.
The foot-long leaves are pinnately
compound, and leaflets are oval, 2 to 4 inches long, arranged alternately
on a central stalk and are an attractive soft green color. The fragrant
blooms are produced in June in pendulous, branched clusters of showy, white,
butterfly-like flowers typical of
the legume or pea family. The 3- to 4-inch-long, flattened, thin-walled,
papery pods (legumes) mature in August
or September and bear 4 to 6 small, flat, brown seeds. The tiny, cone-shaped,
hairy winter buds are concealed in the bases of the petioles, thus
they are surrounded by the V-shaped leaf scar. There is no true terminal
bud. The thin, silvery-gray bark is
smooth and similar to that of the beech. The outer bark sometimes cracks
to reveal a light-colored innerbark.
Similar species:
Ecology:
Distribution: The yellowwood is a rare native tree. Its range is
in the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee,
Arkansas and Missouri where it grows in rich, well-drained limestone soils
on slopes, ridges and along streams. It is hardy in Iowa and other areas
north of its range.
Habitat: The yellowwood is a slow-growing, long-lived tree. It has a serious problem of producing narrow growth angles of the crotches, which often cause the tree to be subject to breakage in storms. Yellowwoods grow in most well-drained soils and are intolerant of waterlogged soils. They are susceptible to cankers, dieback, root rot and blight. Scale is the only pest associated with this tree.
Uses:
Wood: The wood is of little commercial importance because
of its scarcity and the trunks are generally too short, but the medium-weight
heartwood is hard and strong and used for carving gunstocks when available.
The tree is named after the yellow-colored wood, and settlers chopped up
and boiled the roots to make a yellow dye.
Horticulture: Yellowwoods are graceful trees and are occasionally planted as ornamentals in parks and gardens because of their attractive flowers and foliage.
