THE KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE

THURSDAY'S SUNSET

KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE IN ASHLAND

FRUIT (BEAN POD)

DOUBLE-COMPOUND PINNATE LEAF

Saturday,  9:00 AM.  1 degree F, wind NW, moderate with stronger gusts.  It is overcast and  foggy, with blowing snow and freezing haze.  An anemic sun is struggling  to assert itself.  The humidity is down at 70%, and the barometer steady at 29.78".
   It snowed off and on all day yesterday, the temperature in the mid-twenties, rendering the roads very slick and treacherous, the snow plows nowhere to be seen.  We had appointments in Ashland and Hwy. 13 was dangerous both directions.  One's only defense is to drive slowly and cautiously, which most drivers seemed to doing.
   I saw this young Kentucky Coffee Tree, Gymnocladus dioicus, in Ashland in a park on 6th Ave. West.  The large dried fruits hanging on the tree caught my eye from a distance, the tree being in the pea family, the Leguminosae. There are only two species in the genus, ours and one in China.  The genus is in the bean sub-family, the Fabaceae. The Kentucky Coffee Tree species has separate male and female trees, only the female, of course, bearing fruit.  It is native to the lower Midwest but it is quite hardy north and makes a good street tree, as it has strong wood and few pests or diseases, although its pods and leaf parts may be considered messy.  Its doubly compound leaves are the largest of any American tree species, and, having few branchlets, it stands out rather starkly in in its winter nakedness.  The craggy bark is quite decorative, and the whole tree has something of an "ugly-duckling" appeal.
   The common name refers to the use by early settlers of the dried beans as a coffee substitute, but beware, they are somewhat poisonous if not properly prepared.  Native Americans used the poison derived from the beans to stun fish so they could be netted.  The beans have a squarish shape and it is said they were used by Indians like dice in games of chance and were also used in games by settlers' children.  It used to be said that the tree marked the location an old Indian encampment, having grown from a seed used in a game;  but I have no idea whether this supposition is valid.
   The species, a member of the Eastern Deciduous Forest biome, is not common; neither is it endangered.  I personally have not seen it in the wild.  It has become rather popular in recent years and is somewhat difficult to obtain from nurseries.