- Kentucky coffeetree
Taxobox
name = Kentucky coffeetree
image_width = 270px
image_caption = A Kentucky coffeetree in the winter at Tyler Arboretum in Media, PA.
status = secure
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Fabales
familia =Fabaceae
subfamilia =Caesalpinioideae
genus = "Gymnocladus "
species = "G. dioicus"
binomial = "Gymnocladus dioicus"
binomial_authority = (L.) K. KochThe Kentucky Coffeetree, "Gymnocladus dioicus", is a
tree in the subfamilyCaesalpinioideae of the pea familyFabaceae , native to the midwest ofNorth America . The range is limited, occurring from the far south ofOntario ,Canada and in theUnited States fromKentucky (where it was first encountered by Europeans) and westernPennsylvania in the east, toKansas , easternNebraska , and southeasternSouth Dakota in the west, and to northernLouisiana in the south. It was formerly the state tree ofKentucky .Description
Varies from 18 to 21 meters (60-70 feet) high with a spread of 12-15 meters (40-50 feet) and a trunk up to one meter (3 feet) in diameter. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 4 meters (13 feet) tall. It usually separates 3 to 4 1/2 meters (10-15 feet) from the ground into three or four divisions which spread slightly and form a narrow pyramidal head; or when crowded by other trees, sending up one tall central branchless shaft to the height of 15-21 m (50-70 ft). Branches stout, pithy, and blunt; roots fibrous.Keeler, Harriet L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scriber's Sons, 109-112.] Like the
Sumac , branches are totally destitute of fine spray; smaller branches are thick, blunt, clumsy and lumpish. While other trees lose their leaves, along their twigs and branchlets are borne the buds, the hope and the promise of the coming year. But the "Gymnocladus" seems so destitute of these that the French in Canada named it Chicot, the dead tree. Even when spring comes, it gives no apparent recognition of light and warmth until nearly every other tree is in full leaf. The casual observer says it bears no winter buds, but there is a tiny pair, wrapped in down and wool, lying sleeping in the axil of every last year's leaf.The Kentucky Coffeetree has immense bipinnate leaves, 60-90 cm in length, and about two-thirds as broad. The leaves emerge later in the spring than those of most other
deciduous trees, and fall earlier in the autumn.Among the trees of the eastern United States, there are two others with similarly large leaves: the
Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) and the Devil's Walking-Stick (Aralia spinosa). The expanding leaves are conspicuous because of the varied colors of the leaflets; the youngest are bright pink, while those which are older vary from green to bronze.The bark is ash-gray and scaly, flaking similarly to
black cherry , but more so. Theflower s are dioecious, and thefruit is a hard-shelled bean in heavy, woody, thick-walled pods filled with sweet, thick, gooey pulp. The shape of the pods varies somewhat: pod length ranges from about 12.7 to 25.4 cm; unfertilized female trees may bear miniature seedless pods. The beans contain thetoxin cytisine .* Bark: Dark gray, deeply fissured, surface scaly. Branchlets at first coated with short reddish down.
* Wood: Light brown; heavy, strong, coarse-grained; durable in contact with the ground, takes a fine polish. Sp. gr., 0.6934; weight of cu. ft., convert|43.21|lb|abbr=on.
* Winter buds: Minute, depressed in downy cavities of the stem, two in the axil of each leaf, the smaller sterile. Bud scales two, ovate, coated with brown tomentum and growing with the shoot, become orange green, hairy and about one inch long, before they fall.
* Leaves: Alternate, bi-pinnately compound, ten to fourteen pinnate, lowest pinnae reduced to leaflets, the other seven to thirteen foliate. One to three feet long, eighteen to twenty-four inches broad, by the greater development of the upper pairs of pinnae. Leaf stalks and stalks of pinnae, are terete, enlarged at base, smooth when mature, pale green, often purple on the upper side. Leaflets ovate, two to two and one-half inches long, wedge-shaped or irregularly rounded at base, with wavy margin, acute apex. They come out of the bud bright pink, but soon become bronze green, smooth and shining above. When full grown are dark yellow green above, pale green beneath. In autumn turn a bright clear yellow. Stipules leaf-life, lanceolate, serrate, deciduous.
* Flowers: June. Dioecious by abortion, terminal, greenish white. Staminate flowers in a short racemen-like corymb three to four inches (102 mm) long, pistillate flowers in a raceme ten to twelve inches (305 mm) long.
* Calyx: Tubular, hairy, ten-ribbed, five-lobed; lobes valvate in bud, acute, nearly equal.
* Corolla: Petals five, oblong, hairy, spreading or reflexed, imbricate in bud.
* Stamens: Ten, five long and five short, free, included; filaments thread-like; antehrs orange colored, introrse; in the pistillate flower small and sterile.
* Pistil: Ovary superior, sessile, hairy, contracted into a short style, with two stigmatic lobes; ovules in two rows.
* Fruit: Legume, six to ten inches (254 mm) long, one and one-half to two inches wide, somewhat curved, with thickened margins, dark reddish brown with slight glaucous bloom, crowned with remnant of the styles. Stalks and inch or two long. Seeds six to nine, surrounded by a thick layer of dark, sweet pulp.Taxonomy
"Gymnocladus" is of Greek derivation and refers to the stout branches destitute of spray.
It is one of three species in the genus "Gymnocladus", the other two being native to eastern
Asia . These are Chinese Coffeetree "Gymnocladus chinensis" in central China, and Burmese Coffeetree "Gymnocladus burmanicus" inMyanmar .The name is sometimes hyphenated as 'coffee-tree'; the form 'coffeetree' used here is as used officially by the
United States Forest Service .Distribution
Widely dispersed, but rare.
This tree usually occurs as widely dispersed individuals or small colonial groups with interconnected root systems. This tree is found in floodplains and river valleys but is also sometimes seen on rocky hillsides and limestone woods. In the northeastern part of its range, seemingly natural groves of this tree are actually associated with known prehistoric village sites.
A Kentucky coffeetree can be found at the Wisconsin Welcome Center on I-90 in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Cultivation
Kentucky Coffeetree is easy to grow from seed. Filing the seedcoat by hand with a small file, and then soaking the seeds in water for 24 hours will ensure rapid germination. Propagation is also easy from dormant
root cuttings .It forms large clonal colonies, reproducing by shoots sprouting from roots.
Prefers bottom lands, and a rich moist soil. This tree is bothered little by heat, cold, drought, insects, disease, road salt, ice, and alkaline soil.
Toxicity
Toxic to animals. See veterinary link: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/kentucky/kentucky.htm
Uses
In pleasure grounds it is not uncommon, since it is often planted because of its unique appearance and interesting character.
The peculiarly late-emerging and early-dropping leaves, coupled with the fact that the large leaves mean few twigs in the winter profile, make it a tree that is ideal for urban shading where winter sunlight is to be maximized (such as in proximity to solar hot-air systems).
Food
The common name "coffeetree" derives from the use of the roasted seeds as a substitute for
coffee in times of poverty. They are a very inferior substitute for real coffee, and caution should be used in trying them as they are poisonous in large quantities.References
*Sternberg, Guy, (2004) Native Trees for North American Landscapes. Timber Press, Inc.
* [http://www.uafortsmith.edu/Arboretum/KentuckyCoffeetree University of Fort Smith Tree Guide] Pod dimensions.
*Personal conversation with [http://www.mortonarb.org/ The Morton Arboretum] regarding the occasional appearance of miniature seedless pods on female Kentucky Coffeetrees.External links
* [http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/frame/gydi.htm "Gymnocladus dioica" images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu]
* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GYDI NCRS: USDA Plants Profile "Gymnocladus dioicus"]
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