The Kentucky yellowwood is a large tree in the pea and bean family with smooth, gray bark. Its leaves provide a yellow color in the fall while in the spring, it has showy, white, and fragrant pea-like flowers that hang in 15-inch-long clusters. It has very smooth, gray bark and compound leaves with seven leaflets. The tree is native to North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, yet can also be found in scattered areas of Illinois, Indiana and southern states. The tree is very rare, yet most often exists in well-drained limestones soils in river valleys, slopes and ridges. It is the only species of Cladrastis that is native to North America.