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COFFEE TREE. 
Diœcia decandria, Linn. Leguminosæ. Juss. 
Gymnocladus canadensis. G,folns hipinnaiis, ampUssimis, deciduis ; foliolis 
ovalibus, acurninatis. Floribus racemosis ; leguminosis polyspermis. 
Upper Canada beyond Montreal, and that part of Genesee which bor- 
ders on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, are the most northern countries 
which produce the Coffee Tree : but it is much less abundant in these 
climates than in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and in the tract 
which is bounded by the rivers Ohio and Illinois, between the 35th and 
40th degrees of latitude. The large dimensions which it exhibits in these 
regions, is attributable to the milder temperature of the seasons, and to the 
extreme fertility of the soil. 
The French of Canada call this tree Chicot', those of Illinois, Gros Fe- 
vier ; and the inhabitants ofthe Western States, Coffee Tree. 
The presence of the Coffee Tree is an index of the richest lands; on 
which it habitually grows in company with the Black Walnut, the Red 
Elm, the Poplar, the Blue Ash, the Honey Locust, and the Hackberry. 
These trees it equals in height, but not in bulk, for a Coffee Tree 50 or 60 
feet high, does not generally exceed 12 or 15 inches in diameter. 
In summer, this tree, when fully grown, has a fine appearance : its 
straight trunk is often destitute of branches for 30 feet, and supports a 
summit not very widely spread, but of a regular shape and of tufted foliage : 
such at least is its form in primitive forests, where it is confined by the 
trees which grow around it. In the winter, when its leaves are fallen, the 
paucity of its branches and the size of the terminal ones, which are very 
large in comparison with those of other trees, give it a peculiar appearance 
somewhat resembling a dead tree. This is probably the reason of its being 
called Chicot, Stump tree, by the French Canadians. To this peculiar 
character is added another of the epidermis, which is extremely rough, 
and which detaches itself in small, hard, transverse strips, rolled backward 
at the ends, and projecting sufficiently to render the tree distinguishable at 
first sight. I have also remarked that the live bark is very bitter, so that 
a morsel no bigger than a grain of maize, chewed for some time, produces 
a violent irritation of the throat. 
The leaves are 3 feet long and 20 inches wide, on young atid thriving 
trees : on old ones, they are not more than half as large. These leaves 
