Kentucky Coffeetree

For Throwback Thursday let's take a look at a tree that's not native to NJ but is native to the US. The Kentucky Coffeetree originally comes from the midwest; despite having Kentucky in its name, it looks like they're much more widespread in Missouri/Illinois/Indiana.

Kentucky Coffeetrees are trees in the legume family. This means that a Kentucky Coffeetree is more closely related to a string bean plant than it is to oaks, hickories, or maples. But they do have tree relatives; just in this area, Honey Locust, Black Locust, and Eastern Redbuds are fellow legume trees. I also talked about legumes in this American Senna post.

Of the legume trees around here, the Kentucky Coffeetree is the one that produces the most robust pods with the largest seeds. They're supposed to be poisonous, though in theory you can roast them and then make a non-caffeinated beverage from them.

March 5, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 6535361, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

March 5, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 6535359, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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