# Cladrastis

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***Cladrastis*** (**yellowwood**) is a genus of [flowering plants](/source/Flowering_plant) in the family [Fabaceae](/source/Fabaceae). It includes four species, three native to eastern Asia and one to southeastern North America.[1]

Species of *Cladrastis* are small to medium-sized [deciduous](/source/Deciduous) [trees](/source/Tree) typically growing 10–20 m tall, exceptionally to 27 m tall. The [leaves](/source/Leaf) are compound pinnate, with 5–17 alternately arranged leaflets. The [flowers](/source/Flower) are fragrant, white or pink, produced in [racemes](/source/Raceme) or [panicles](/source/Panicle) 15–40 cm long. The [fruit](/source/Fruit) is a [pod](/source/Legume) 3–8 cm long, containing one to six seeds.

*Cladrastis* is related to the genus *[Maackia](/source/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](/source/Pickeringia)* and *[Styphnolobium](/source/Styphnolobium)* form a [monophyletic](/source/Monophyly) [clade](/source/Clade) known as the [*Cladrastis* clade](/source/Cladrastis_clade); as the other two originated from within *Cladrastis*, *Cladrastis* is paraphyletic.[2][3][4]

## Species

Four species are currently accepted:[1]

- *[Cladrastis delavayi](/source/Cladrastis_delavayi)* (Franch.) Prain[5] – Bhutan in the Himalayas to Hunan in Central China

- *[Cladrastis kentukea](/source/Cladrastis_kentukea)* (Dum.Cours.) Rudd – south-eastern North America.

- *[Cladrastis shikokiana](/source/Cladrastis_shikokiana)* (Makino) Makino – south-central and southern Japan

- *[Cladrastis wilsonii](/source/Cladrastis_wilsonii)* Takeda – central China.

## References

1. [*Cladrastis Raf.*](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:22025-1) *[Plants of the World Online](/source/Plants_of_the_World_Online)*. Retrieved 1 August 2023.

1. Cardoso D, Pennington RT, de Queiroz LP, Boatwright JS, Van Wyk BE, Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M (2013). "Reconstructing the deep-branching relationships of the papilionoid legumes". *[S Afr J Bot](/source/South_African_Journal_of_Botany)*. **89**: 58–75. [doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001). [hdl:10566/3193](https://hdl.handle.net/10566/3193)

1. Cardoso D, de Queiroz LP, Pennington RT, de Lima HC, Fonty É, Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M (2012). "Revisiting the phylogeny of papilionoid legumes: new insights from comprehensively sampled early-branching lineages". *[Am J Bot](/source/American_Journal_of_Botany)*. **99** (12): 1991–2013. [doi:10.3732/ajb.1200380](https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200380). [PMID 23221500](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23221500)

1. Wojciechowski MF (2013). "The origin and phylogenetic relationships of the Californian chaparral 'paleoendemic' *Pickeringia* (Leguminosae)". *[Syst Bot](/source/Systematic_Botany)*. **38** (1): 132–142. [doi:10.1600/036364413X662024](https://doi.org/10.1600/036364413X662024)

1. Some sources treat *Cladrastis delavayi* as a synonym of *Cladrastis sinensis*.

## Further reading

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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cladrastis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.