Kentucky Coffee Tree

Tree  •  $9 to $15, multiple sizes, unsexed

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Height	60 to 90 ft
Spread	40 ft
Sun Exposure	Full to Part Sun
Soil Moisture	Medium
Bloom Color	Greenish White
Bloom Time	May, June
Companion Plantings	Large-leaved Aster, Strawberry Bush
Special Attributes

Gymnocladus dioicus

Kentucky Coffee Tree boasts the largest leaves of any woodland tree in Eastern North America. These 3-foot long compound leaves emerge late in spring and drop early in the fall, a characteristic alluded to by its genus, which means “naked-branched,” as the tree is without leaves for much of the year. The May-June flowers are pollinated by the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in addition to bees and butterflies. This plant is avoided by mammalian herbivores except for the groundhog, which has been known to munch on young seedlings.

A member of the legume family, this plant produces large seed pods that remain on the bare branches for much of the year, giving it an ornamental quality in winter. This plant does not fix nitrogen like many other legumes, however. Note that KY Coffee Tree is dioecious and only female trees will produce seed pods. The large seeds are very hard and were once roasted and ground as a substitute for coffee, although unroasted seeds are poisonous and have been known to kill livestock that drank from ponds into which these seed pods have fallen.

It is theorized that now-extinct North American mammalian megafauna once fed on the pods and aided in seed dispersal, nicking the hard seeds coats with their molars, which is required for quick germination. However, KY Coffee Tree seeds are not consumed by our smaller, extant wildlife as they are too hard and toxic, and are too heavy to be distributed by wind or water. This is a phenomenon called “evolutionary anachronism,” as the tree likely evolved alongside and benefited from large herbivores that are now extinct. The hard seed coats will eventually degrade after several seasons, allowing germination.

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