Part 20

Fruit: Legumes up to 4 inches long and ½ inch broad, flat, smooth, brown at maturity, with several seeds.

Wood: Hard, heavy, close-grained, dark reddish-brown.

Use: The major importance of this small tree lies in its value as an ornamental, because of its spectacular appearance when in flower.

Habitat: Rich woods.

Range: Connecticut across to southern Wisconsin, south to Texas, east to northern Florida; also Mexico.

Distinguishing Features: The heart-shaped, toothless leaves easily identify this tree.

YELLOWWOOD Cladrastis lutea (Michx. f.) K. Koch

Growth Form: Small to medium tree to 45 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 14 inches; crown widely spreading.

Bark: Gray, smooth.

Twigs: Slender, reddish-brown, with some lenticels, somewhat zigzag; leaf scars alternate, narrow and completely encircling the bud, with 3-7 bundle traces.

Buds: Three or four crowded together, resembling at first a single bud, hairy, without scales, covered at first by the hollow base of the leafstalk.

Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound, with 7-11 leaflets; leaflets oval, pointed at the tip, tapering to the base, up to 4 inches long and up to half as wide, smooth on both surfaces, toothless along the edges. The leaflets turn yellow in the autumn.

Flowers: In long, drooping clusters up to 1 foot long, white, slightly fragrant, appearing during June.

Fruit: Legumes up to 4 inches long and about ½ inch wide, flat, smooth, pale brown, with 4-6 seeds.

Wood: Hard, heavy, strong, close-grained, yellow to light brown.

Uses: Fuel. In olden days, a yellow dye was extracted from this tree.

Habitat: Rich, wooded slopes.

Range: North Carolina across to southern Missouri and Arkansas, south to northern Alabama and northern Georgia.

Distinguishing Features: The large, pinnately compound leaflets and the smooth, gray trunk distinguish this tree.

ALTERNATE-LEAVED DOGWOOD Cornus alternifolia L.

Growth Form: Small tree to 20 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 3 inches; crown flattened.

Bark: Brown, slightly roughened, with shallow furrows.

Twigs: Slender, reddish-brown or greenish, smooth; leaf scars alternate, crescent-shaped, somewhat elevated, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Narrowly ovoid, pointed, smooth, up to ¼ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, although often clustered toward the tip of the twig, simple; blades oval to ovate, pointed at the tip, tapering or rounded at the base, up to 5 inches long, about half as broad, the edges smooth or finely round-toothed, green and mostly smooth on the upper surface, paler and frequently hairy on the lower surface; leafstalks up to 2 inches long, usually finely hairy.

Flowers: Several in crowded round-topped clusters, appearing in May and June, each flower white, with 4 narrow petals.

Fruit: Blue, spherical berries up to ⅓ inch in diameter, borne on a red stalk.

Wood: Heavy, hard, close-grained, brown.