514 XEAY EXGLAXD TEEES IX "U'lXTER. 



KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE 

 Coffee Nut, Coffee Bean, Nicker Tree, Mahogany. 



Gymnocladus dioica (L.) Koch. 

 G, canadeyisis Lam. 



HABIT — A medium sized tree 30-GO ft. in heigrht, trunk generally soc^n 

 dividing- into 3 or 4 slightly spreading- limbs or less frequently with a 

 continuous trunk, forming- a narrow obovate head with thick branchlets 

 de\"oid of spray; the large stout pods often remaining- on tree throug-h- 

 out the winter. 



BARK — Dark brown, characteristically roughened with thin tortuous 

 recurved scale-like ridges which are distinct even upon comparatively 

 J' o u n g' branches. 



TAVIGS — A'ery stout, more or less contorted, blunt, DroT^^n or slightly 

 greenish, generally white-crusted, smooth or often velvety-downy. 

 LEXTICELS — rather numerous, large, generally niore conspicuous on 

 second year's growth. PITH — wide, salmon-pink to brown. 



LEAF-SCARS — Alternate, more than 2-ranked, large, pale, raised, 

 broadly heart-shaped. STIPULE-SCARS — absent. BUNDLE-SCARS— 

 large, raised, generally 3-5. 



BUDS — Terminal bud absent, lateral buds small, bronze, silky pubes- 

 cent, partially sunken, scarcely projecting beyond the surface of the 

 twig, surrounded by an incurved downy rim of the bark; axillary bud 

 in the depression at top of leaf-scar, one or sometimes 2 superposed 

 buds present. BUD-SCALES — sometimes 2 lateral scales visible. 



FRVIT — A reddish-brown, large, broad, flat, oblong, abruptly pointed 

 pod, 4-10 inches long by 1^/^-2 inches wide, frequently remaining 

 unopened on tree during winter, generally somewhat larger than shown 

 in the photograph. Seed, dark brown, flattish. 



CO^tPARISOXS — A superficial glance at the habit of the Kentucky 

 Coffee Tree might lead one to mistake its stout branchlets for those of 

 the Ailanthus. Its curious narrow ridged bark, liowever, should at 

 once prevent any confusion between the two trees. The silky bronze 

 superposed buds partially sunken in downy dimples of the bark in 

 connection -^'ith the stout tT^'igs and salmon-colored pith are sufficient 

 characters to distinguish this tree from all other forms. 



DISTRIBUTIOX — Not native in New England but frequently cultivated 

 as an ornamental tree; grows wild in rich deep soil from central New 

 York and southern Minnesota southward to Tennessee and the Indian 

 Territory. 



"WOOD — Heavy, though not hard, strong, coarse-grained, very durable 

 In contact with soil, rich light brown tinged with red, with thin lighter 

 colored sapwood of 5-6 layers of annual growth; it takes a fine polish 

 and is occasionally used in cabinet-making and for fence-posts, rails 

 and in construction. Its seeds were formerly used as a substitute for 

 coffee. 



