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trees or shrubs belonging to the division Papilionaceæ of the order Leguminosæ. Leaves alternate, unequally pinnate; leaflets opposite, sub-opposite or alternate, on stout petiolules, entire in margin, and without stipels. Flowers in panicles or racemes, on slender pedicels; calyx with four or five short unequal teeth; corolla papilionaceous, petals unguiculate, standard nearly orbicular, wing and keelpetals oblong; stamens ten, free or slightly united at the base; anthers versatile; ovary with numerous ovules; style incurved, subulate; stigma terminal, minute. Pod linear, flattened, thin, thickened on the upper margin; valves membranous; seeds four to six.

Four species of Cladrastis have been described, constituting two sections, which have been considered by Sargent and other botanists to form two distinct genera, Cladrastis and Maackia. The difference in the buds of the two sections is remarkable; but analogous differences occur in other genera, as Carya and Pterocarya; and in the absence of important differential characters in the flowers and fruit, it is advisable to unite the sections into one genus.


 * 1. Cladrastis tinctoria, Rafinesque. Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and N. Carolina.
 * 2. Cladrastis sinensis, Hemsley. Central and western China.
 * 2. Cladrastis sinensis, Hemsley. Central and western China.
 * 2. Cladrastis sinensis, Hemsley. Central and western China.