Cladrastis kentukea

Cladrastis kentukea is a deciduous tree that occurs in the eastern United States, primarily in the Ozark Mountain region but also on the western side of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and limestone regions between. It is rare throughout except in Arkansas and Kentucky. Habitat modification and loss threaten the species in some areas, due to multiple stressors. This species is in cultivation and sometimes naturalized.

Cladrastis kentukea has a scattered distribution in the eastern United States in the western side of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Ozark Mountains, and limestone regions with the native range including southern Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and southwestern North Carolina, southcentral South Carolina, northern Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, central Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma (Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2022). It is cultivated and naturalized over a wider range that includes Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, eastern North Carolina, southern Georgia, Ontario, and the northeastern United States (Native Plant Trust 2022, Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2022, Cooperrider et al. 2001). It is suspected to be historical in Louisiana where it hasn't been seen since the 1990's and site has been clearcut (C. Doffitt, pers. comm., 2022).

Over much of its range it occurs in scattered populations, including in Oklahoma where it occurs in eleven counties in small, scattered populations. It is common in Arkansas.

This species is threatened by habitat modification or loss as a result of development, timber harvest conversion of forest to plantation, or clearcutting. Disease or pests may also impact the species (Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project 2002).