25G TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



tender the first winter and should be dug and heeled in or 

 heavily mulched at the end of the first season after which they 

 are rather hardy. 



Genus GYMNOCLADTJS. 



Gymnocladus dioicus. (G. canadensis. } Coffee Tree. 

 Kentucky Coffee Tree. 



Leaves very large, two to three feet long, twice pinnate, 

 each partial leaf stalk bearing seven to thirteen ovate leaflets, 

 the lowest pair with single leaflets. The leaflets stand verti- 

 cally. The color of the leaves is a bluish green. The flowers 

 are dioecious or polygamous, whitish, borne in large racemes 

 which are much longer on the fertile than on the sterile trees. 

 Fruit a large flat pod containing large seeds over one-half 

 inch in diameter surrounded by a thick layer of dark colored 

 sweet pulp. The fruit generally remains unopened on the tree 

 all winter. Flowers appear from May to July. 



Distribution. One of the rarest forest trees of North 

 America, found growing from western New York and southern 

 Ontario west to the Minnesota Valley and eastern Nebraska 

 and south between the Mississippi River and the Allegheny 

 Mountains -to Tennessee. In Minnesota it is found spar- 

 ingly in southern and southeastern portions of the state north 

 to near St. Paul and as far west as New Ulm. 



Propagation. Grown from root cuttings or from seeds, 

 which should be scalded before being sown as recommended 

 for the seeds of Locust. 



Properties of wood. Heavy, not very hard, strong, coarse 

 grained, likely to check in drying but very durable in contact 

 with the ground: it can be easily worked and takes a good 

 polish. It is rich brown in color, with thin rather lighter 

 colored sapwood. Specific gravity 0.6934; weight of a cubic 

 foot 43.21 pounds. 



Uses. The Coffee Tree is graceful and ornamental when 

 in leaf and in winter is interesting from its peculiar naked 

 and dead appearanoe. It is one of the latest trees to leaf out 

 and the new growth is strikingly pretty. Tke leaflets near the 

 ends of the leaves are bright pink, while those that opened 

 .first are green or bronze colored. The young leaves in June 



