Taxon: Gymnocladus dioicus (L.) K. Koch

Summary

Genus:

Gymnocladus

Family:

Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)

Subfamily:

Caesalpinioideae

Tribe:

Caesalpinieae

Nomen number:

18091

Place of publication:

Dendrologie 1:5. 1869

Protologue link:

https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/18149618

Verified:

12/18/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

107 (98 active, 80 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Guilandina dioica L.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Gymnocladus canadensis Lam.

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Links

Forestry Images – from www.forestryimages.org

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage
Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants Note: poisonous
Lee, Y.-T. 1976. The genus Gymnocladus and its tropical affinity. J. Arnold Arbor. 57:102. Note: lists as "dioica"
Little, E. L., Jr. 1978. Important forest trees of the United States
Little, E. L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees, Agric. Handb. 541
Munro, D. B. Canadian poisonous plants information system (on-line resource).
Radford, A. E. et al., eds. 1980-. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States.
Smith, R. J. Botanical beads of the world (on-line resource).
Spaeth, J. P. & J. W. Thieret. 2004. Notes on "coffee" from the Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus, Fabaceae). Sida 21:345-356.
Wofford, B. E. Database of Tennessee vascular plants (on-line resource).
2018. Oklahoma vascular plant database

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	Kentucky coffeetree			1	Radford, A. E. et al., eds. 1980-. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States.
Swedish	kentuckykaffe			2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Eastern Canada	Canada	Ontario	s.	Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Illinois		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Iowa		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Kansas	e.	Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Missouri		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Nebraska	e.	Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Oklahoma		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	South Dakota	s.e.	Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Wisconsin		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Indiana		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Massachusetts		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New Jersey		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	New York		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Ohio		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Pennsylvania		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	West Virginia		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Alabama		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Arkansas		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Delaware		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Kentucky		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Louisiana	n.	Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maryland		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	North Carolina		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Tennessee		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Virginia		Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"
2	Cultivated	Northern America		United States
4	Naturalized	Northern America		United States

Native
Northern America

EASTERN CANADA: Canada [Ontario (s.)]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia]
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas (e.), Missouri, Nebraska (e.), Oklahoma, South Dakota (s.e.), Wisconsin]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana (n.), Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Texas]

Cultivated
Northern America

REGION: United States

Naturalized
Northern America

REGION: United States

Reference(s)

Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):160. Note: lists as "dioica"

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Environmental	ornamental	Little, E. L., Jr. 1978. Important forest trees of the United States
Materials	beads	Smith, R. J. Botanical beads of the world (on-line resource).
Vertebrate poisons	mammals	Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisons	mammals	Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants Note: poisonous

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=18091. Accessed 12 May 2026.