Gymnocladus dioica (L.) K.Koch

Species tsi. ^YMNOcMmrs* Gañáüensis. ' Ir®” Coffe^mt-tree.^
Sp. ch. Leaves bipinnate; leaflets aval, acuminate, pubescent.
Pursh.
Obs. The coffee nut, trtífe, as it is here universally called, is
the only species of the genus, and is peculiar to the forests of
Canada and the western states of North Americá,in no portion
of which is it more commonly met with, or seen hrgreater per-
fection than in the immediate neighbourhood of Lexington. * It .
is strikingly characterized by its naked trunk, covered with a
rough contorted baTk, lofty in proportion to its size ;• its thick
obtusely pointed-branches; its large compound leaves, formed
of a great number of small leaflets, arranged by double pairs;
and more particularly by its large "brown pods, which remain-
ing on long after the leaves have fallen, give a peculiar effect..
The wood is porous and of a reddish hue, not unlike the coarse
kind of mahogany: it splits well but is little used in mechanicks.
The seed, of which 6 or 8 are found in each pod, are large and
hard; the kernel, extracted by roasting in the fire, ¿round and
boiled in water forms a drink not unlike coffee.
Although this tree is usually ranked among the dioecious
vegetables, (in which the male and female flowers are borne on
different plants,) I have been, induced to believe that it was fre-
quently polygamous or hermaphrodite, from observing that a'
barren tree is very rarely met with, and that individuals bear
fruit abundantly although solitary and distant from all others
of the kind. Pursh even places it in the class Decandria. Flow-
ers generally from the 10th to 15th of May. /Fruit ripens in
October.
Syn. Guilandina dioica. Linn. Z .
/CP'
Fi • .{BARIUM
ANNOTATION
Gymnocladus
Duane Isely, 197
Exasmsqé fot
N0ÍÍTH AMERICAN FLOÉk
HERB. CHAPMAN.
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
02725273