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Panicle of white pea-like flowers
Home Plants Cladrastis sinensis
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Cladrastis sinensis

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This woody pea relative is in full flower alongside the Henslow Walk.

Cladrastis sinensis (syn. C. delavayi) can grow to 20m in height and develop a  spreading or domed canopy. The pinnate leaves comprise between nine and thirteen narrow, alternate leaflets, and a terminal raceme or panicle of white-yellow, or pale pink flowers. A native of south west China and Bhutan, C. sinensis grows on forested hillsides between 1000m and 2500m above sea level. It is the most widely grown of the five Asian species of Cladrastis, and was first described in 1890 by Pratt from a specimen in Sichuan, and was subsequently introduced to our gardens from Hubei by Wilson in 1901. There are a number of large specimens of Cladrastis sinensis (Chinese yellow wood) in the United Kingdom, but flowering seems to be reliant on warm summers.

University of Cambridge Museums and Botanic Garden

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