Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gymnocladus dioicus
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Kentucky Coffeetree from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gymnocladus dioicus
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Gymnocladus dioicus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-07-001:
Gymnocladus dioica FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Gymnocladus dioicus
COMMON NAME:
Kentucky Coffeetree, Kentucky Mahogany
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p40
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_638
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_gydi_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm220505_7572
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm220505_7575
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm220505_7577
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm220505_7578
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
Bark rough & contorted, as if the body suddenly deflated, w the bark erupting in all directions, per Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_g_dioicus_12
June
Leaves bipinnately compound, except once-pinnately compound at rachis base, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
bipinnately or tripinnately compound leaves of trees
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_gymnocladus_dioicus_4
June
Bark thick, with narrow scaly ridges, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm140816_637
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
JK Marlow jkm081110_030
November Buncombe County NC
NC Arboretum
)
JK Marlow jkm081110_032
November Buncombe County NC
NC Arboretum
Fruit a brown legume 3-7" long, with large hard rounded seed, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm081110_035
November Buncombe County NC
NC Arboretum
Fruit pods hard, leathery, falling without opening, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm231123_6932
November Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gymnocladus dioicus
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gymnocladus dioicus
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Gymnocladus dioicus
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-07-001:
Gymnocladus dioica
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Gymnocladus dioicus
625
Tree
Perennial
Dioecious
Habitat: Native in bottomland and riparian forests, mesic upland forests and woodlands, stream banks, swamp margins, often along rivers; also in disturbed areas, persistent and weakly spreading from horticultural plantings, per Weakley's Flora
Native: north & west of the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare or waif(s)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
2-pinnately compound: 10-14 pinnae
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish-white
Nearly radially symmetrical
4-5 petals
10 included stamens
Superior ovary
Unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Brownish-black
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p238
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p120
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p047
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p147
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p073
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p13
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p156
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