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• Gymnocladus dioicus

Gymnocladus dioicus — Kentucky coffee-tree

Facts

Kentucky coffee-tree is, as its common name suggests, native to the midwest but regarded as introduced in New England. Its common name also refers to the fact that the roasted seeds have been ground and drunk as a coffee-like beverage (but are poisonous unless roasted!). This is a handsome shade tree in the pea family, with male and female flowers produced on separate trees. The leaves only appear for a relatively short growing season, hence the branches appear naked for much of the year.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower petal color

  • white
  • yellow or green

  Flower symmetry

  there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower has a hypanthium

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence is a panicle (branched with the individual flowers on stalks)
  • the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are fused to each other (not other flower parts), at least near their bases

  Stamen number

  10

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit tissue origin

  • the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit
  • there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  legume

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

  Wings on fruit

  there are no wings on the fruit

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a tree

• Leaves

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  • NA
  • the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given

  Leaf blade length

  150–350 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 610 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf teeth

  the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets

  Leaves per node

  there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaf is twice pinnately compound (it has a row of two or more leaflets on each side of the central axis, each of which are divided into two or more leaflets)

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • gray
  • red

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae