A large, strikingly distinct tree, Gymnocladus dioica, which usually grows 80–90 ft (24–27 m) high, but sometimes attains a height of 110 ft (33 m) and a diameter of 5 ft (1.5 m). The species name, dioica, means that the tree is dioecious; that is, male and female flowers are on different individuals. It grows from eastern Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma to southern Ontario, western New York, and Pennsylvania, and southwestward to Louisiana. It can readily be recognized when in fruit by its leguminous pods containing hard, heavy, red-brown seeds, which were used by early settlers as a substitute for coffee; hence the name coffee tree. The branches are stout and thick, and the bark has thin, twisted ridges. The leaves are twice pinnate, and the winter buds, sunken in the bark, are superposed, two or three together (see illus.). Never a common tree, it is sometimes cultivated in parks and gardens of the eastern United States and northern and central Europe. It is sometimes used as a street tree. The wood is hard and reddish, and is used for construction. It is durable in contact with the soil and is also used for railroad ties and fenceposts.