Kentucky Coffee Tree 'Stately Manor'

I'm listing this review as neutral because this is more a post about the availability of the 'Stately Manor' Kentucky coffee tree than an...Read More experience with this particular cultivar (no one actually has experience with this particular cultivar since the tree has never been released to the public).

Gymnocladus is a excellent landscape tree, however, and should be planted much more often that it is.

Just so folks know, Gymnocladus dioicus (dioica) 'Stately Manor' is not available to the public and has not ever been released to the public by the University of MN. The U of M has this tree listed as being released in 2002, but this is completely false and is a black mark against the U of M for not cleaning up false information from their web pages.

I've sent an email to the U asking them to remove any references of this tree's release.

Don't bother wasting your time looking for this tree since the tree is not available anywhere.

You can even check the U of M's plant info website and even their own website does not list a source for the 'Stately Manor' Kentucky Coffee tree (but the site does list a source for 'Espresso'; 'Espresso' is a male Kentucky coffee tree cultivar that has actually been released to, and is being sold to, the public via garden centers and nurseries).

If the U cannot list a source for their own tree release, the tree is simply not available anywhere.

http://plantinfo.umn.edu/
tl³

Stately Manor is a male cultivar so no seed pods. Was introduced in 2002 by the University of Minnesota. Obviously Minnesota hardy. I ha...Read Moreve only seen this cultivar at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was midsummer and it had a nice shape and very nice foliage. A really good looking tree.

Gymnocladus dioicus has many qualities going for it: great exotic-looking foliage and branching, fast growth, and a great seed-pod to boo...Read Moret. The large, shiny, purple-brown pod remains on the tree throughout the winter months, providing winter interest to the garden. The bean seeds in the pod readily germinate after planting them about 1-2 inches deep

Occasionally the tree is used here, in upstate NY, as a street tree which indicates that it must be salt-tolerant and generally pretty robust.