Gymnocladus dioicus (L.) K.Koch

A tree. It grows to 21 m high and 15 m wide. The trunk can be 60 cm across. It loses its leaves for much of the year. The leaves are large and compound. They are 1 m long. Young leaves are pinkish bronze. The leaf is made up of about 70 leaflets on 3-7 pairs of branches. The leaflets are oval and 5 cm long. The flowers are small, greenish-white and star shaped. They have a scent. They occur as many branched clusters at the ends of branches. The plants are separately male and female. They are pollinated by insects. Female plants produce fruit as reddish brown pods which hang down. The pods can be 25 cm long. The husk is hard and leathery. The seeds are about 2 cm long and slightly flattened. There are only a few seeds in each pod. They are in a sticky sweet pulp. The seeds have been roasted and ground as coffee.

It is a temperate plant. It is native to C. & E. United States. It grows from 90-600 m altitude. It grows best in deep rich soils. It can tolerate severe climates. It can grow in a range of soils. It suits hardiness zones 4-8. Arboretum Tasmania.

The fully ripe seeds have been roasted and ground as coffee. They need to be roasted for at least 3 hours at 285°C to remove the hydrocyanic acid. CAUTION: The raw seeds have toxic properties. They contain the alkaloid cystisine.

Plants are grown from seed. The tough seed coat must be broken to allow water to enter before seed can germinate. It can also be grown from shoots from the roots.