United States / Grow / Kentucky coffeetree

Kentucky coffeetree

Gymnocladus dioicus · Fabaceae · also called Kentucky coffee tree · Wikipedia

Fire-resistant. Recommended by 3 independent evidence lineages with no objection on record across 13 cited sources. This status is computed from the cited evidence by the published rule, never hand-assigned. The page keeps its cited source rows visible for readers and separates each evidence channel from the computed result on this record.

▲ the PNW-590 regional list ▲ the Eastern US Fire Performance Plant Selector ▲ Michigan's E2948 list ◆ the Idaho Firewise field scores · fire-tested

Computed class: Fire-resistant (consensus) — derived from the cited evidence by a published rule, never hand-assigned. Each chip above is one independent primary-evidence lineage and its direction. No plant is fireproof; condition and placement govern. Zone 0 is hardscape regardless.

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Is this one for your yard?

Enter your ZIP to see whether this is legal to plant in your state, and whether it survives your winter.

Gymnocladus dioicus carries 4 hardiness rows on Gymnocladus dioicus. native and introduced range both cited sits against that lead fact on Gymnocladus dioicus. Neither row erases the other for Gymnocladus dioicus.

green test condition also belongs on Gymnocladus dioicus.

Open the evidence table for Gymnocladus dioicus. Gymnocladus dioicus is sourced there, not restated here.

4 hardiness rows and native and introduced range both cited stay co-cited on Gymnocladus dioicus so dioicus is not flattened to a banner word.

Form: tree
Mature height: ~100 ft
Water need: moderate
Rated in: Arkansas; British Columbia; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes +9

On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions: 1 condition stated in cited fire-evidence rows.
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence: 7 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: Arkansas; British Columbia; Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Michigan / Great Lakes; OR/WA/ID; Ohio / Midwest; Oregon; Pacific Northwest (Oregon / Washington / Idaho); Tennessee; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US; eastern WA; southern Idaho / Intermountain
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 10 scopes across 8 cited fire sources

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database · Official scoped edition
- Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08
  The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.
Firewise Landscaping Plants (Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia editions) · Official scoped edition
- MD; partial normalized coverage · 2015-01-08
  Maryland Forest Service says the list contains plants that can be grown in Maryland and identifies Maryland natives. FireApproved publishes 169 exact source owners from the 180 printed rows; an unrepresentable form and duplicate-owner rows are not broadened. The list calls itself non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every Maryland site.
- NJ; partial normalized coverage
  New Jersey DEP publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in New Jersey and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and does not establish suitability for every New Jersey site or override the Pinelands Commission's separate placement and fuel-break rules.
- WV; partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-26
  West Virginia Division of Forestry publishes a state edition saying the listed plants can be grown in West Virginia and are relatively resistant to fire. Its same 180 printed taxon occurrences map to the 169 conservative owners already normalized for the template family. The list is non-comprehensive and provides no comparative or site-specific rating.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
- MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01
  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) · Official scoped edition
- ID, OR, WA; partial normalized coverage · 2023-10-01
  The October 2023 joint Pacific Northwest Extension publication explicitly names Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and publishes more than 150 plant profiles. FireApproved has normalized 155 exact plant records from the source; publication scope does not assert that every listed plant suits every site within the three states.
Landscaping Guidelines to Protect Your Home from Wildfire (SP685) · Official scoped edition
- TN; partial normalized coverage · 2006-10-24
  University of Tennessee Extension SP685 is Tennessee landscape guidance and publishes 78 represented plant owners. Most table rows are a carrier of Virginia Firescapes rather than an independent rating; Tennessee source scope does not change that lineage or establish site suitability.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Eastern Washington · Official scoped edition
- Eastern Washington (WA footprint); partial normalized coverage
  Washington DNR publishes the guide for Eastern Washington and says it compiles plants from other Firewise documents that are likely to thrive there. FireApproved publishes 46 exact owners only as eastern Washington context. The rows are corroborative, not empirical or statewide.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in AR, CT, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NY, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV.
Introduced / established: 8 sourced range or established records. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness: 3 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

24

exact source areas

Current introduced

8

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

24 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Arkansas (AR)
Connecticut (CT)
Iowa (IA)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Massachusetts (MA)
Maryland (MD)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
Nebraska (NE)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Virginia (VA)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)

8 introduced source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Georgia (GA)
Maine (ME)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
New Jersey (NJ)
South Carolina (SC)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record gymnocladus-dioicus · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 5 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Gymnocladus dioicus · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · record tree:Gymnocladus dioicus · New, January 2007 · as of 2026-08-26

3–8 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Gymnocladus dioicus · exact match.

Source location: Table 1, tree row.
Fire-Resistant Plants for Home Landscapes (PNW 590) · record trees:Kentucky coffee tree · 2023-10 · as of 2026-08-26

3–8 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Gymnocladus dioicus · exact match.

Source location: Kentucky coffee tree profile, USDA hardiness zones field.
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record GYDI · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 3b · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -32°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Gymnocladus dioicus · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 79411, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Conditions in the fire evidence

These describe tested or rated plant material. They are not horticultural maintenance instructions.

green: Fire-Resistant Plants for Oregon Home Landscapes evidence row

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 3 — 10–30 ft from the structure; thin vegetation, remove debris, and minimize plant massing [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (with its recommendation)
Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database: plantable at 70' from home [Idaho minimum planting distance] (mid-scale rating)
FireSmart BC Plant Program: suitable for HIZ extended zone and beyond [FireSmart BC Home Ignition Zone] (with its recommendation)
Fire-Resistant Plants for Oregon Home Landscapes: Oregon [osu-frn6-oregon-regions] (with its recommendation)
Fire-resistant plant profile galleries: Kentucky coffee tree — Gymnocladus dioicus [osu-2023-trees-gallery] (with its recommendation)
Firewise Landscaping Plants: Deciduous Trees [Maryland Firewise plant-form tables] (with its recommendation)
FireWise Plants offer colorful choices for Fire Safe Gardens: Scientific name / Common name / Comments table [arkansas-firewise-table] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Mid-scale / conditional (1)

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database — Idaho Firewise (BLM + College of Western Idaho + Idaho Botanical Garden) · original source Primary evidence Field program lineage: idaho-tree

“fire-resistance score 4 of 10” · score 4 (idaho-0-10)

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky coffee tree). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/gymnocladus-dioicus/. Last verified 2026-08-23.