Yellow-wood is an unarmed evergreen tree that reaches a height of ten meters. It is the only member of prickly ash that has no spines. The trunk is light gray and nearly smooth. The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound with mostly five to nine light-green leaflets in opposite pairs. Yellow-wood produces small flowers in terminal panicles in June or July.
Fruits mature in early autumn.
Fairchild Tropical Garden is working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conserve and restore the wild populations of yellow-wood in the Florida Keys. We have mapped yellow-wood trees in the wild, identified appropriate reintroduction sites, collected seed from trees growing in the wild and are developing germination and cultivation methods. Seventy-five seedlings now thriving in the nursery at the Research Center may be relocated into natural habitat next year.