Coffee-tree, Kentucky

Description:

Kentucky coffeetree is a tall deciduous tree with rough, scaly gray-brown bark and large bipinnate compound leaves. It is native to the Midwest, primarily southern Michigan and Ohio southwest to Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. It grows up to 100’ tall with an irregular open oval to obovate crown. You will often find it in low or rich woods, bluff bases and along streams.

Large leaves to 3’ long, divided into 3-7 pairs of pinnae, with individual leaflets (1-3” long). Leaflets are blue-green in summer, turning an undistinguished yellow in fall. Larger trees typically cast light shade. Greenish white flowers appear in late spring. Male flowers are in clusters to 4” long while female flowers are in panicles up to 12” long. Female flowers are fragrant. Fertilized female flowers give way to flattened reddish brown pods (to 10”long) which ripen in October and persist well into winter. Native Americans and early American settlers, especially those in the Kentucky territory, roasted and ground the seeds to brew a coffee-like caffeine free beverage, hence the common name. Native Americans roasted the seeds for food. Seeds are very toxic prior to roasting, and should never be eaten fresh off the tree. Trees are late to leaf out in spring and are one of the first to drop leaves in the fall.

Other than litter problems caused by the leaves and seed pods, Kentucky coffeetree is relatively trouble-free.