Click on the images help you identify an Kentucky coffeetree.
Form
Large tree, height 50' to 70', sometimes 100' or more, with a diameter of 24" to 36"; open-grown trunks may be 10' to 12' tall, with three or four heavy ascending branches turning slightly outward to form a high, narrow, and irregularly rounded crown; under forest conditions, trunks may be clear for 70'.
Bark
Dark gray or brown, deeply fissured.
Leaf
Alternate on stem, length 12" to 36", doubly compound with 40 to 60 smooth-margined, abruptly pointed leaflets; bluish green turning yellow in autumn.
Fruit (seed)
Purplish-brown pod, 6" to 10" long; encloses six or more hard, round, flat, dark reddish brown seeds separated by a thick, dark layer of inedible, sticky pulp.
Range
Rare, southeastern Minnesota in Mississippi River Valley to St. Paul and Minnesota River Valley to New Ulm; shade intolerant, moderate growing.
Wood uses
Light red to reddish-brown, coarse-grained, medium hard; not commercially important but is used for railroad ties, fence posts, poles, and construction material; popular ornamental tree.