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NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica (syn.s Gymnocladus dioicus and Gymnocladus canadensis) of the family Leuminosae, the legume or pea family 3" x 3" flat cut, 3" x 3" quartersawn, 3/4" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup. Ring porous with a thick line of earlywood pores with heavy vasicentric parenchyma transitioning to small pores with some confluence towards the end of the latewood. Rays are easily visible at 10X and there are occasional pore multiples in random directions. The frequent designation "Kentucky" coffee tree would be more correctly given as "American" since it grows in several states throughout the East, Mideast, and Northeast of the USA, and in some areas of Canada. It is sometimes incorrectly designated as a mahogany. It is heavy and strong but not very hard and it is coarse grained in a way that makes it look a lot like red oak and sassafras. Reportedly, the beans of the tree CAN be used to make coffee, but only in a slightly more reasonable way than using mud to make chocolate. Coffee tree is strongly flourescent under UV, showing a yellow green much like black locust but not quite as strong. COFFEE TREE / HONEY LOCUST how to tell them apart

my samples: NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K) colors will vary under other lighting conditions

first side and end grain of a sample plank of Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present.


second side, before and after a fresh sanding. This piece had clearly been lying about for quite a long time before it came into my hands.


end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above


plank and end grain. This piece was contributed by Chris Arvidson, whom I thank for this and other contributions


end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


same plank as directly above, but moistened with water --- as you can see, this is one of those woods where a finishing agent muddies the separation between early and late growth on the end grain.


both sides of sample plank of Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica (the vendor had the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus")


end grain and end grain closeup of the sample plank directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a flat cut sample plank of Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioicus --- I don't know what the black stain is. The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- color is correct but I see I got it upside down


both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has the specific epithet using the synonym "dioicus".


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


both sides of a sample plank of coffee tree / Gymnocladus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The first side has been sanded to 240 grit


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above. Note how, in the update below, the soft pith has absorbed the fine sanding dust and has turned white as a consequence.


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above


a small batch of Kentucky coffee tree that I bought. The largest piece, which is shown in detail below, weighted in at 52lbs/cuft so I assumed that it was unseasoned since coffee tree rarely gets over 42lbs/cuft and is more usually about 40. The seller, however, informed me that it was definitely kiln dried. When I did my end grain analysis, I found that the piece has truncated rays, which explains the high weight. The knot you see on the face grain runs all the way to the side of the piece, so the whole thing is crotch and near-crotch wood. You can see the truncated rays quite clearly in the enlargements of the end grain update.

The small piece in the middle right of the group was normal wood and had normal rays, and normal weight.

Since coffee tree fluoresces, I attempted to get a good pic of the largest piece under UV. You can definitely see the fluorescence down below but I couldn't get the color quite right.


both sides of the largest piece from the lot directly above


end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above


END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above, showing the truncated rays


the piece above under UV. The color should show a bit more green and note that the sapwood on the right doesn't fluoresce, it just reflects the visible purple light which is part of the spectrum put out by the UV bulb.


This veneer sheet was loaned to me by John Koehn whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

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The Wood Book pics


flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
coffee tree (Gymnocladus canadensis) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are present for all 3 views

web pics:

flat cut planks --- color looks too orange/yellow to me; wood may have been moistened


quartersawn plank --- color looks too orange/yellow to me; wood may have been moistened


planks


Planks listed as Kentucky coffee tree / Gymnocladus dioicusi (which is a mis-spelling of the synonym Gymnocladus dioicus. The correct botanical name is Gymnocladus dioica)


planks listed as "Kentucky" coffee tree, which is a designation I sometimes see, but which I believe is just a synonym for coffee tree and does not designate a separate species. The bright orange color on the first one seems totally unrealistic to me, as does the bright yellow on the second one.


more "Kentucky" coffee tree planks --- color looks very realistic to me


log half listed as "Kentucky" coffee tree


both sides of a Kentucky coffee tree plank


veneer listed as Kentucky coffee tree


three planks and a closeup of the most interesting of the three


Kentucky coffee tree bowls turned and photographed by Tom Pleatman, whom I thank for these pics and other contributions to the site. Big enlargements are present.


Kentucky coffee tree crotch bowl and closeup


natural edge bowl