# Kentucky Coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)

> Bold, coarse and nearly indestructible: a rare native shade tree for tough sites and cold climates.

Also called coffee tree, coffeenut. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/kentucky-coffeetree/

![Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus) dark seed pods hanging in the leafy crown](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/kentucky-coffeetree-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: romana klee, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gymnocladus_dioicus,_Chicago_02.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Large tree
- Mature height: 60 to 80 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: Floodplain forests and rich moist slopes
- Native range: 26 states, north and west to [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND) and south to [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI)). Also recorded, not native, in [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ) and [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC)
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Flowers: May to June
- Fruit: Pods, September to October
- First crop: 20 to 30 years
- Mature spread: 55 ft
- Traits: Drought tolerant, Rare, Wildlife value, Winter interest, Street tree, Erosion control, Salt tolerant
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Coffeetree has enormous doubly compound leaves, a picturesque winter silhouette and no serious pests. It tolerates drought, alkaline soil, road salt and urban compaction, which makes it one of the best street trees for the Midwest and Northeast. Female trees carry thick pods; the raw seeds are toxic, so it is not a coffee substitute despite the name. On mine spoils it has been planted to stabilize and reclaim the soil. Perfect for a lawn, where its open crown lets grass grow right up to the trunk.

## Size, growth and what to expect

At maturity a Kentucky coffeetree stands 60 to 80 feet with a crown 40 to 55 feet wide, and the trunk on a big tree runs 2 to 3 feet through. It grows fast when young and slows with age. Our growth estimator models it at roughly a foot and a half a year in youth on an average site, the rate it assumes for a medium tree. Trees can live to about 100 years or more.

Male and female flowers grow on separate trees, and only the females carry pods. Trees begin bearing at 20 to 30 years and then fruit yearly. The pods are thick and woody, 5 to 10 inches long, with 4 to 8 dark seeds about three quarters of an inch long, and they hang on unopened until late winter. Early settlers of Kentucky and Tennessee used the seeds as a coffee substitute, which is where the name comes from.

It grows wild in rich bottomlands from New York, Pennsylvania, southern Ontario and Minnesota south to eastern Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

## How to grow Kentucky Coffeetree

Coffeetree needs full sun and open sky. Average to dry soil of any texture suits it. In shade it leans and thins. At full size, keep it 35 feet from the house and never beneath a wire. Set trees about 50 feet apart.

Set it out while dormant. Saplings come bare-root or in deep pots, and coarse roots move best young. Dig two to three times the root width, no deeper, hold the flare at grade, and refill with the soil you dug. Mulch a wide ring clear of the bark, and stake only if the tree will not stand. Seed has a stony coat. File through it, soak until the seeds swell, and sow an inch deep under screen.

Water weekly the first two summers. Guard the trunk against voles and rabbits, and cage against deer rub for three winters. Prune in winter while it is young to hold one leader.

Kentucky coffeetree is dioecious, and a seedling will not show which it is until it flowers, years from now. Females drop thick pods whose raw seed is poisonous, so pick them up where children or stock reach. It leafs out very late, drops early, and suckers now and then into the lawn.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual, Gymnocladus dioicus](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Gymnocladus.pdf)
- [Iowa State University Extension, Kentucky Coffeetree](https://naturalresources.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/iowa_trees/trees/kentucky_coffeetree.html)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Gymnocladus dioicus](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/gymnocladus-dioicus/)
- [Morton Arboretum, Kentucky coffeetree](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/kentucky-coffeetree/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Gymnocladus dioicus](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/GYDI)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, Row and Geyer](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_gydi.pdf)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Gymnocladus dioicus](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151008/Gymnocladus_dioicus)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Gymnocladus dioicus](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=GYDI)
- [USDA Forest Service, Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-963: Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus (L.) K. Koch: current abundance in nature and prospective persistence, Carstens and Schmitz 2017](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/55180)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=158)
- [Go Botany, Native Plant Trust: Gymnocladus dioicus](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/gymnocladus/dioicus/)
- [South Dakota State University Extension: Kentucky Coffeetree, David Graper, updated 2019-01-09](https://extension.sdstate.edu/kentucky-coffeetree)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Native trees for the Great Plains: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas, eastern Colorado and Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-great-plains/index.html.md)
- [Native trees for the Great Lakes and Midwest: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-the-great-lakes-and-midwest/index.html.md)
- [Six trees not to plant near a house, and what to plant instead](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/trees-not-to-plant-near-a-house/index.html.md)

## Related

- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Black Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-maple/index.html.md), [September Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/september-elm/index.html.md), [Shumard Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shumard-oak/index.html.md) and [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md)
- Under its canopy: [Sweetleaf](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweetleaf/index.html.md), [Red Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-buckeye/index.html.md) and [Bottlebrush Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bottlebrush-buckeye/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Oglethorpe Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/oglethorpe-oak/index.html.md), [Overcup Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/overcup-oak/index.html.md), [Sand Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-hickory/index.html.md) and [Mockernut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mockernut-hickory/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Kentucky Coffeetree, add ?species=kentucky-coffeetree with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Kentucky Coffeetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree): whether Kentucky Coffeetree can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can move it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Kentucky Coffeetree as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Kentucky Coffeetree is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Kentucky Coffeetree needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 5 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=kentucky-coffeetree:5
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Kentucky Coffeetree where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Kentucky Coffeetree goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=kentucky-coffeetree&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Kentucky Coffeetree flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=kentucky-coffeetree