COFFEETREE
There are only a few native tree species within the Bean, Legume, or Pea Family. One of those trees is the Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioica [L.] K. Koch).
Coffeetrees are members of the Order Fagales, the Family Fabaceae or Leguminosae, and the Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. A previous scientific synonym for this tree was Gymnocladus canadensis Lamarck.
The generic name, Gymnocladus, is Greek for “naked branch”. Gymnos is “naked” and klados is “branch”. This is because the leaves emerge late and drop early, whichcauses the branches remain leafless for over 6 months.
The specific epithet, dioica, is Greek and Latin for “two houses”. Dis is “twice” and oikos is “house”. This is because the species is dioecious.
Other common names for this species are Chicot, Chicot Stump, Coffeebean, Coffeenut, Kentucky Coffeetree, Kentucky Mahogany, Mahogany, Mahogany Bean,Nickertree,and Stump Tree.
Coffeetrees are slow- to moderately growing and are moderately long-lived. It grows about 1-2 feet per year. They are tolerant of urban pollution, salt,wind, and cold temperatures but are slightly intolerant of shade.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COFFEETREE
Height: Its height is 40-110 feet.
Diameter: Its trunk diameter is 1-4 feet.
Crown: Its crown is narrowly rounded or pyramidal and is open. Its branches are coarse, stout, and are widely spaced. Its width is about 40-50 feet.
Trunk: Its trunk is stout and straight. It is tall in the woods, short in the open, and is divided near the ground.
Twigs: Its twigs are light brown, green-brown or gray-brown. They arestout, blunt, coarse, rigid, and contorted. They are hairy when young and have orange lenticels. Its leaf scars are alternate, large and broad, pale, elevated, and are heart- or shield-shaped with 3-5 bundle scars. Its pith is large, rounded, dull orange, pink, or dark brown, and is continuous.
Buds: There are no end buds. Its lateral buds are small, dark brown, and silky. They are sunken in the bark above the leaf scar and are superposedwith 2 or 3 buds.
Leaves: Its leaves are bi-pinnately compound, alternate, and deciduous. Each leaf is about 1-3 feet long and about 1-2 feet wide.It has 3-8 branched stalks that may each have about 12-28 leaflets. Each leaflet is ovate, about 1-3 inches long, about 1 inch wide, and has a short stalk. The leaflet is hairless, dull green above, and paler below. Its tip is sharply pointed, its base is rounded, and its margins are toothless. The leaves appear bronze-pink when unfolding.Its petiole is stout, glabrous, and is swollen at its base. These leaves turn yellow or yellow-green in the fall.
Flowers: This tree is dioecious. Its flowers are arranged in terminal,panicled, and racemous clusters. The male clusters are about 2¾-4 inches long and the female clusters are about 4-12 inches long. Each flower is about ½-¾ inches long and wide, greenish white, and hairy. Its corolla has 5 unequal, narrow, oblong, and spreading or reflexed petals. Its calyx is narrowly tubular, 10-ribbed, and has 5 lobes. The male flowers have 10 fertile stamens with 5 long filaments, 5 short filaments, and orange anthers. The thread-like filaments are attached at the middle of the anthers. The female flowers have 1 pistil with a short style and a 2 lobed stigma. These flowers are fragrant and are insect-pollinated. They are in bloom for about 2 weeks. Flowering season is May to June.
Fruits: Its fruit is a pod or a legume. Each pod is about 2-10 inches long, about 1-2½ inches wide, is slightly curved, and is flattened. The pod is dark red-brown to purple-brown, thick-walled, tough, and leathery.These fruits are attached upon stout stalks about 1-2 inches long. These pods fall from the tree while still closed. They open along 2 lines to release their 1-9 seeds. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) and Squirrels (Family Sciuridae) may eat these fruits. Fruiting season is September to winter.
Seeds: Each seed is rounded, flattened, and is about ½-¾ inches in diameter. These seeds are shiny, dark brown or brownish-black, and have thick, hard shells. These seeds are imbedded in a thick, dark, sweet, sticky, gelatinous pulp that dries when the pods mature.Animals disperse these seeds. Because of this seed’s toxicity and its hard coat, it is not regularly consumed by wildlife, but was probably eaten by the American Mastodon (Mammut americanum Kerr), the Mammoth (Genus Mammuthus), and other prehistoric megafauna.
Bark: Its bark is roughand is about ¾-1 inch thick. It is red-brown when young but later becomes dark gray or gray-brown. It becomes deeply furrowed into narrow, scaly, hard, and sharp-edged ridges that curl outward at their edges. Its inner bark is pink or orange.
Wood: Its wood is strong, hard, heavy, durable, coarse- and straight-grained, and ring-porous. Its heartwood is red-brown to light brown and its sapwood is thin and whitish.
Roots: Its roots are deep, coarse, and fibrous. There are no nitrogen-fixing nodule bacteria within these roots. These roots may sprout to form clonal colonies.
Habitat: Its habitat consists of rich, moist, well-drained bottomlands, especially alkaline soils. They are also found in old fields and along fencerows.
Range: Its range extends from the Appalachian Mountains to parts of the Great Plains and from the southern Great Lakes to parts of the Deep South. This tree is not a common tree species.
Toxicity of the Coffeetree:
Most of this plant is toxic to humans and to livestock. This mainly includes the leaves, the seeds, and the fruit pulp.
This tree contains the alkaloid cytisine, hydrocyanic acid, and toxic saponins. Symptoms of poisoning include gastrointestinal troubles, headaches, chest pains, irregular pulse, convulsions, and coma.
Uses of the Coffeetree:
The Coffeetree had some uses. Both the Native Americans and the European settlers used this tree.
The wood was used for cabinetry, furniture, interior trim, fence posts, rough construction, railroad crossties, pallets, pulpwood, and fuel Tthis wood takes a good polish.
The seeds will lose their toxicity under heat and can be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute. The coffee does not have caffeine. This coffee was made by the early explorers and the early settlers of the lands west of the Alleghenies. Frontiersmen like Daniel Boone and David Crockett may have consumed this coffee. However, this coffee was never very popular. When real coffee became available, these people stopped making it. During the Civil War, when the Union imposed its naval blockade upon the South, the Confederate states made their coffee this way.
Many Native Americans roasted the seeds and ate them like nuts. They also ground the seeds and used them for food.
Coffeetree had some medicinal uses. The Native Americans used the pulp to treat insanity. The root bark tea was used as an expectorant, a diuretic, and for childbirth.A leaf or pulp tea was used as a purgative. The pulverized roasted seeds were used as snuff for treating headaches. The powdered seeds were also used like smelling salts. The pulverized root bark was used to induce sneezing in comatose patients.
Coffeetree was also used as an ornamental tree. This tree has no major insect or disease problems. It has been cultivated since 1748.
REFERENCES
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_coffeetree