Cladrastis Kentukea Fabaceae Leaves are pinnately compound, alternate and deciduous with usually 7 but up to 11 ovate leaflets. The terminal leaflet often ending with an abruptly acute apex. The petiole is large and completely engulfs the lateral bud.
Twigs are smooth and zigzag with wooly lateral buds and leaf scars surrounding the bud.
Bark is gray-brown and smooth and the heartwood is yellow. Fruit is a brown flat legume up to 4 inches long. Yellowwood is scattered in the eastern US on moist fertile sites. Occasionally found in Alabama. Click on photo to enlarge.