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Gymnocladus dioica

Common name:	Kentucky Coffee Tree	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	(L.)K.Koch.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Gymnocladus canadensis (Lam.), Guilandina dioica (L.)
Known Hazards:	The ripe seed contains hydrocyanic acid. This toxin can be destroyed by thoroughly heating the seed for at least 3 hours at 150°c[183]. The seed contains saponins[222]. Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by heat so a long slow baking can destroy them. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is not advisable to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K].
Range:	Eastern and Central N. America - New York to Tennessee, west to Arkansas and South Dakota.
Habitat:	Prefers deep rich soils in bottomlands, deep ravines and moist lower slopes[229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	G. dioicus[B,E,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Kentucky Coffee Tree [E,H], Kentucky Coffeetree [P,DEN1,B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	dioica = dioecious (lit. 2 houses referring to male and female parts on different plants);
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us; Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 20m by 15m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower in June, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy, Secondary.

Edible Uses

Coffee; Seed; Seedpod.

Seedpod - raw or cooked. The roasted seeds can be eaten like sweet chestnuts[257]. The pulp is sweet[2, 82]. A flavour like caramel[222]. The pods are up to 25cm long and 5cm wide[229].
The roasted seed is a caffeine-free coffee substitute[2, 11, 46, 95, 213]. A bitter flavour[226]. Thorough roasting for at least 3 hours at 150°c is necessary in order to destroy the poisonous hydrocyanic acid that is found in the seed[183].
Seed - roasted and eaten like a nut[161, 213, 226]. The seed contains toxic substances, see notes above.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Homeopathy; Miscellany.

The pulverised root bark is used as an effective enema[213, 222, 257]. A tea made from the bark is diuretic[222]. It is used in the treatment of coughs due to inflamed mucous membranes and also to help speed up a protracted labour[222]. A snuff made from the pulverized root bark has been used to cause sneezing in comatose patients[257].
A tea made from the leaves and pulp from the pods is laxative and has also been used in the treatment of reflex troubles[222].
A decoction of the fresh green pulp of the unripe fruit is used in homeopathic practice[82].

Other Uses

Insecticide; Soap; Soil reclamation; Wood.

The fruit is high in saponins and is used as a soap[200].
The leaves are used as a fly poison[222].
Trees are planted on the spoil tips of mines to stabilize and reclaim the soil[200].
Wood - coarse-grained, heavy though not hard, strong, very durable in contact with the soil, finishes to a fine lustre. A handsome wood, it weighs 43lb per cubic foot and is used for cabinet work, furniture, construction, fencing etc[46, 61, 82, 171, 229, 235].

Cultivation details

Requires a deep rich soil and a sunny position[1, 200]. Tolerates drought, atmospheric pollution, salt and limestone soils[200].
A very cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -30°c[200].
A very ornamental[1] but slow growing tree[11], it rarely flowers in Britain, requiring more summer heat than it usually gets here[11, 200]. Trees in the wild seldom live longer than 100 years[229]. The tree has a light canopy so does not cast much shade[200], making it a good tree to use for the top canopy of a woodland garden.
Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required.
Unlike most members of the Leguminosae, his species does not form nodules of nitrogen-producing bacteria on the roots[274].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe[200]. The seed can also be sown in early spring in a greenhouse[78]. Scarification and pre-soaking the seed for 24 hours in warm water, especially if it has been stored, will improve germination[200]. Make sure the seed has swollen after soaking, soak it again if it has not and, if it still does not swell, try filing away some of the seedcoat but be careful not to damage the embryo. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into fairly deep individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Consider giving them some protection against the cold for their first couple of winters outdoors
Root cuttings 4cm long and 1cm thick in a greenhouse in December[200]. Plant the roots horizontally in pots[78]. Good percentage.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Gymnocladus canadensis (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for Gymnocladus dioicus (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. 1989 ISBN 0889025649
Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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