Kentucky Coffee Tree

[Firefighter938]

I went to a field fence row and cut a little today. Mostly mulberry. I noticed several strange trees on long the creek. One was dead so I cut it down. When I dropped it and bucked it I thought it was elm. Then I began looking at the twigs better and some of the live ones. They had big seed pods in it and I think it may be Kentucky coffee tree. It is definitely not locust, which I have cut a ton of, both honey and black. The bark kind of peels, and the wood is red like red elm. Sorry I don't have any pics tonight. I will try to get some. Anyone ever burned this stuff?

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I went to a field fence row and cut a little today. Mostly mulberry. I noticed several strange trees on long the creek. One was dead so I cut it down. When I dropped it and bucked it I thought it was elm. Then I began looking at the twigs better and some of the live ones. They had big seed pods in it and I think it may be Kentucky coffee tree. It is definitely not locust, which I have cut a ton of, both honey and black. The bark kind of peels, and the wood is red like red elm. Sorry I don't have any pics tonight. I will try to get some. Anyone ever burned this stuff?

Mimosa trees also have the bean seed pods. Lots of those around. Any chance it was one of those?

I'm familiar with Kentucky whisky (smooth!), Haven't had Kentucky coffee yet.

 

[Firefighter938]

I've been googling pictures of it and I'm positive it's coffee tree now. Pretty cool tree that's rare it seems like.

 

[ElmBurner]

They are popular as ornamentals and as a shade tree during the summer that lets maximum light through in the winter (since they drop almost all of their "twigs" in the fall).

But yeah...not many of them around. If you want to keep them going, throw the seed pods into the river...that's pretty much the only areas you see them now. The water is needed to get the seeds pods to rot and the seeds to germinate.

 

[Dobish]

we have a couple of these around Golden. i was thinking about planting one, as they can get growing pretty big!

 

[Firefighter938]

Bark


End grain

Twig

The sun warmed the field up today so I didn't drive out in it to get a seed pod. I will when it refreezes. Maybe this will help someone down the line who searches the site for Kentucky coffee tree. We will see how it burns in a few years.

 

[Jeffm1]

21.6 BTUs
http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating

http://treebrowser.org/index.cfm?controller=final&action=details&key=391&sortby=CommonName

 

[Woody Stover]

21.6 BTUs
http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating

I saw that, and 20.8, so about like Hackberry or Red Elm...definitely worth getting.

 

[lindnova]

My wife wanted a Kentucky Coffetree for while. I got some KC seeds from the ground at a highway rest stop 2 years ago. They had been on the ground for a winter at this point. Sanded the outside of the seed lightly and soaked them in water and planted the ones that sunk and tossed the ones that floated after a week. Got 2 germinations out of around 5 seeds in soil and planted them both (2 germinations out of a dozen seeds I picked up). One in front of the house for shade and another down by the road to be unique. They have grown 2 feet in 2 years so far.

There are none of these trees wild anywhere around me, but the city has been planting a lot of them on the boulevards. They don't appear to be a noxious reproducer so ok with me.

 

[Woody Stover]

Pretty cool tree that's rare it seems like.

Doesn't show any "tree" icons on our map, so it's not common by any means. Not a real wide range either.
(broken link removed)
https://www.google.com/search?q=ken...OQlbjRAhUqrFQKHW07BF4QsAQIIw&biw=1920&bih=971

 

[Dobish]

they are not a common tree, but they are a somewhat fast growing shade tree that will last a long time. My tree guy has been trying to get me to plant one for a while, I just need to figure out where first!

 

[Keenester]

Here on my farm in Central Kentucky I have a lot of these Ky Coffee Trees. they are apparently not as common as they once were. I have read that they are an "ancient" tree (around for a long time) and they now grow primarily in isolated stands. I read they think the trees and pods used to be eaten by large herbivores and the seeds that went undigested was how the trees were spread around. Once the giant herbivores went extinct the trees stopped spreading (the seeds are too big for small herbivores to swallow whole and I can tell you, squirrels have no interest in them). I had a 5 foot diameter one near my house along with many many smaller ones around the property, so I think one was planted many years ago (my house dates before the civil war). The large one was struck by lightning about 4 years ago and eventually died. I burn the wood from that tree to this day. It has two interesting characteristics as a fire wood. First, even the wood that I have let sit for 3 years and has gotten very very dry, burns as if it has been soaked in fat or something. I mean it really roars if you have your damper wide open. I know of no other wood around here that burns like this. Secondly, after you burn some for a couple of nights and it's time to shovel out the ash, there are big grey colored, crumbly concretions with the ashes. These aren't a pain or anything, but I find it remarkable that I am burning a tree that when I completely burn it, I am left with something other than powdery ash. Again, something I have never experienced with any other wood I have burned.
They are a nice shade tree, grow fairly fast and their branch structure, when covered with an inch or two of snow is really beautiful in the winter. Their only real downside is their pods which accumulate under the tree and are a pain in the A** to pick up. Wish I had a giant herbivore.

Quote: 'The road to Lourdes is littered with crutches,but not one wooden leg.' E. Zola

 

[CincyBurner]

Their only real downside is their pods which accumulate under the tree and are a pain in the A** to pick up.

There is a male variety of Kentucky coffee tree - Espresso. No seed pods !
http://www.jfschmidt.com/introductions/espresso/
Definitely worth considering if you want to plant a Kentucky coffee tree.
Kentucky coffee tree is a great, but underutilized landscape species - "a tree's tree". It takes some guts to plant one as for first few years it has a Charlie Brown tree look (sparse twig branched, particularly during dormant season).

 

[Woody5506]

I picked up some Kentucky Coffee wood off Craigslist last year that I was 75% sure was actually just honey locust. After splitting and comparing with my other honey locust, it's clearly different. It's extremely dense and seems like it will never rot. Another give away was the fact that my honey locust gets little bugs boring into it, but they stay away from the coffee wood even in the same stacks. The coffee wood also retains a very nice vibrant color even after drying, if covered. I'll try and post some pics later on.

 

[SophieMorris]

I've burned Kentucky coffee tree. I think it's a fine firewood. The seed pods are the easiest way to identify...look like overgrown lima bean pods.

I also get the concrete-like deposits in the ash as mentioned above.

There's a grove of dead Kentucky coffee trees on the farm. Not sure if they died of some kind of blight. Most are 12-18" in diameter at the base. Or this place is prone to lightning strikes. Two of those trees alive around the house; they seem to be doing fine.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Here on my farm in Central Kentucky I have a lot of these Ky Coffee Trees. they are apparently not as common as they once were. I have read that they are an "ancient" tree (around for a long time) and they now grow primarily in isolated stands. I read they think the trees and pods used to be eaten by large herbivores and the seeds that went undigested was how the trees were spread around. Once the giant herbivores went extinct the trees stopped spreading (the seeds are too big for small herbivores to swallow whole and I can tell you, squirrels have no interest in them). I had a 5 foot diameter one near my house along with many many smaller ones around the property, so I think one was planted many years ago (my house dates before the civil war). The large one was struck by lightning about 4 years ago and eventually died. I burn the wood from that tree to this day. It has two interesting characteristics as a fire wood. First, even the wood that I have let sit for 3 years and has gotten very very dry, burns as if it has been soaked in fat or something. I mean it really roars if you have your damper wide open. I know of no other wood around here that burns like this. Secondly, after you burn some for a couple of nights and it's time to shovel out the ash, there are big grey colored, crumbly concretions with the ashes. These aren't a pain or anything, but I find it remarkable that I am burning a tree that when I completely burn it, I am left with something other than powdery ash. Again, something I have never experienced with any other wood I have burned.
They are a nice shade tree, grow fairly fast and their branch structure, when covered with an inch or two of snow is really beautiful in the winter. Their only real downside is their pods which accumulate under the tree and are a pain in the A** to pick up. Wish I had a giant herbivore.

Quote: 'The road to Lourdes is littered with crutches,but not one wooden leg.' E. Zola

I also heard long ago that this an old species.