October 2022 - Kentucky Coffee

Common Name:  Kentucky Coffee Tree 

Botanical Name:  Gymnocladus dioicus

Native Range:  Northeastern and Central United States USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 8

Height: Can reach a height of 90 feet. More often 60 feet in the urban environment

Spread: 40 to 50 feet. More often 35 feet in the urban environment

Form:  Upright arching branches develop into an ornamental oval crown at maturity

Growth Rate:  Slow to moderate growth rate. Male trees grow faster and are more frequently used as parks and street trees. 

Sun:  Full sun 

Soil:   Very adaptable tree. Tolerates drought conditions, wet conditions, low pH, high pH. Prefers rich moist soils. 

Leaf Description:  Very large bipinnately, alternate, compound 3’ leaves with numerous 2” leaflets. Leaves are pink-bronze when they emerge turning to dark green in summer. Leaves are tropical in appearance 

Fall Color:  Yellow

Flower Description: Female flowers are 8 to 12 inches long, greenish-white in color appear in early summer, and are fragrant. Male flowers are about half the size of female flowers. 

Fruit: Female trees have panicle pods that can be 8 to 10 inches long containing a poisonous fruit that can be neutralized by roasting. 

Bark Description:  The bark is ash-gray and scaly

Wildlife Benefit: Nesting for birds

Tolerates:  Urban conditions, pollution, clay soil, wet soil, drought, high pH, low pH

Possible Disease and Insect Problems:  None serious

Uses:  

• Street or boulevard tree for tough locations
• Shade trees for parks, campuses, and residential environments

Where to be found on municipal property:  There is a specimen Coffee Tree in Marquand Park in the eastern lawn area, a group of mature specimens is located at the cross street of Riverside Drive and Longview Drive, and there are also a group of Coffee Trees located in the island at the Wawa adjacent to the train station. There is a healthy female Kentucky Coffee tree next to Kopp’s Cycles surrounded by concrete and a compacted parking lot. 

Additional Facts: 

• Famous horticulturist Michael Dirr describes the Coffee Tree tree as an excellent street tree with a growth habit that provides clearance and one that has an elegant branching structure that becomes better each year. 
  1. “A tree that should be used more, a structure that feels massive like an ancient cathedral, yet its foliage is as elegant as a stained glass window.”
• The male fruitless cultivar ‘Espresso’ is a tree selected to be planted throughout Witherspoon Street. 
• Got its name common name from the seeds pods which were roasted to be used as a coffee substitute by early settlers in Kentucky. 
• Well suited for urban environments
• Growth appears unaffected by drought and road salt
• The seeds were used for ceremonial and recreational purposes by Native Americans
• Leaves are later to emerge in spring
• In earlier times, the wood was used to make railway sleeper cars
• Several specimen trees planted at Mt. Vernon
• State tree of Kentucky until 1976

References

Dirr, Michael A., Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses, 5^th Edition, Stipes Publishing L.L.C., 1998.

https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=819

https://www.uky.edu/hort/Kentucky-Coffeetree 

https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/kentucky-coffeetree/

Printable Fact Sheet (PDF)