Cladrastis kentukea

Smooth-barked tree to 15 m; lfls 6-9, alternate, broadly ovate to obovate or the terminal one rhomboid, 6-13 cm; panicle hanging, 1-3 dm; standard reflexed, the claw 2-3 mm, the blade broadly rounded, 1.5 cm; wings and keel-pet all distinct, nearly alike, their claws 6-8 mm, their blades oblong, 16-20 mm, cordate at base; ovary pubescent; pods 7.5-10 cm; 2n=28. Rich woods and rocky bluffs; irregularly from w. Va. and w. N.C. to s. O., s. Ind., Ala., Miss., s. Mo., Ark. and Okla., and sometimes escaped from cult. farther n. May, early June. (? C. kentukea; Sophora kentukea, a possibly older name of doubtful application)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

A single colony of this species was found in 1933 in a deep, wooded ravine in the Brown County Game Preserve. It was reported to be present also in a nearby ravine. I was informed that the former owner of the land had cut one tree and had it sawed into boards. The nearest known location of this species is 40 miles south of Evansville. The species may be exceptionally rare or may have been overlooked.