Gymnocladus dioicus<\/em>) is a large native tree found in 18 states, from New York west to Nebraska and from central Minnesota south to Oklahoma (zones 4 through 7). It reaches a mature height of 70 feet (some greater than 90 feet) with a spread of 50 feet. Established in 2-3 years, annual growth rate averages 12-15 inches, about the same as ginkgo or white oak.<\/p>\nLate appearing foliage emerges in mid- to late spring. Recessed vegetative buds push forth multi-pinnate compound leaves. A single leaf can be 2 to 3 feet long, producing between 70 and 100 leaflets. Fragrant olive-white flower panicles appear in late May in clusters of 8 to 12 inches long by 3 to 4 inches wide.<\/p>\n
In autumn its lime-yellow to golden brown compound foliage falls to become a leaf raker\u2019s nightmare. During the winter months, the totally naked upright branches take on the appearance of an arboreal horror from a Stephen King novel. K-coffeetree may be single or multi-trunked. <\/p>\n
K-coffeetree grows in a wide variety of soil types and is tolerant of poorly drained (wet sites). No significant disease or insect pests mar the lush green tropical-like summer foliage. Bark is distinctively charcoal gray and shaggy, a trait more pronounced as the tree ages.\t\t<\/p>\n
Spring pea-like flowers are dioecious, bearing either male or female flowers. Female trees bear clusters of distinctive bean pods measuring 5 to 10 inches long and 1 \u00bd to 2 inches wide on the tips of the branches. Flowers and pods are inconspicuous, mostly hidden within the dense foliage through late summer.<\/p>\n
‘Espresso’ is a male cultivar with no seed pods to rake up. In colonial America the beans were harvested and a crude coffee extract was brewed, no threat to Folgers\u00ae and Maxwell House\u00ae today. The leaves and bean seeds are reportedly toxic to man and grazing cattle.<\/p>\n
K-coffeetree is rarely sold in garden centers, but available on-line. It is notoriously difficult to transplant, but young 2-inch caliper nursery-grown trees thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) is a large native tree found in 18 states, from New York west to Nebraska and from central Minnesota south to Oklahoma (zones 4 through 7). It reaches a mature height of 70 feet (some greater than 90 feet) with a spread of 50 feet. Established in 2-3 years, annual growth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,806,774,1075,623,627,843,630,705,7,850,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5607"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5676,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607\/revisions\/5676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Gymnocladus-dioicus.jpg\" "\\"Gymnocladus")
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