200 TREE ANCESTORS 



THE KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE (gYMNOCL.ADUS) 



G>Tnnocladus is one of those rather numerous and unrelated 

 genera that at the present time is native only in southeastern 

 North i\merica and southeastern Asia, and like the Tulip-tree 

 and the Sassafras it has a single species in each region, scarcely 

 distinguishable from one another, while the ancestral stock has 

 become extinct in the intervening areas. Our American tree is 

 commonly known as the Kentucky coflee-tree or coffee bean, since 

 its seeds were sometimes used as a substitute for coffee, especially 

 during pioneer and Revolutionary times. It is also called the 

 stump tree in certain localities because the leafstalks are often 

 shed after the leaflets and their large size makes it appear that the 

 tree is shedding its twigs. The fresh green pulp of the unripe 

 pods is still used in homoeopathic practice and the pulp surrounding 

 the seeds of the Chinese species is detersive and is widely used in 

 its native land as a substitute for soap. 



The Kentucky cofTee-tree is a large stately tree from 75 to 110 

 feet tall with a trunk from 2 to 3 feet in diameter, which, however 

 generally forks to form three or four main stems within 10 or 15 

 feet of the ground. The leaves are large, particularly on vigorous 

 saplings and may measure 3 feet in length by 2 feet in width. They 

 have a stout leafstalk, a terminal branch and from 2 to 4 pairs of 

 lateral branches, each bearing from 6 to 14 pairs of subsessile ovate 

 leaflets, pink at first and turning to a bronzy green at maturity. 

 The stipules, which in Robinia become spines, are foliaceous and 

 are soon shed. Nor does the coffee-tree develop thorns like its 

 close ally the honey locust. The flower clusters are large but 

 scarcely conspicuous except in the young trees. The flowers, 

 while sometimes mixed usually have the pollen bearing ones in 

 separate and larger clusters than the seed bearing ones. The 

 pods are large and hard, dark reddish brown in color, and are some- 

 times as much as 10 inches long and 2 inches wide. They remain 

 unopened throughout the winter and contain numerous very hard 

 globular seeds, about the size of small marbles, imbedded in the 

 sweet pulp. The wood is strong and coarse grained, heav}^ but 



