Gymnocladus dioicus

The Kentucky coffeetree is in the pea or Fabaceae family and is native to the midwest and upper south of North America. The connection to coffee comes from the fact that the seed may be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee beans. However, unroasted pods and seeds are toxic.

• Leaves are alternate, bipinnately compound, 10–14 pinnate, lowest pinnae are reduced to leaflets. Leaflet is ovate, 2–6 cm long, wedge-shaped or irregularly rounded at base, with wavy margin, acute apex.
• Species is dioecious. Males and females are in greenish-white clusters up to 27 cm in length, appearing in late spring.
• Fruit is a hard-shelled woody pod 13–25 cm in length, up to 5 cm wide which ripens in the autumn and lasts into winter.
• In winter, the tree is bare and has thick branches. With the absence of smaller branches, it sometimes is thought to be dead when dormant. Buds are small, non-protruding; pith is salmon-coloured.
• Bark is light gray and divided into long scaly ridges on older trees.