Types of Coffee Plants

If you were to explore the planet for coffee, you would find about 60 species of coffee plants growing wild in Africa, Malaysia, and other regions. But only about ten of them are actually cultivated. And of these ten, two species are responsible for almost all the coffee produced in the world: Coffea Arabica (Arabian Coffee) and Coffea Canephora.

Coffea Arabica
Left alone in the wild, Coffea Arabica grows up to about ten metres high. However, the confinements of cultivation seem to restrict its height between three and five metres. In Colombia, cultivators keep the plant down to two metres, thus increasing flowering and making gathering easier. Coffea Arabica is a fragile plant.

How would you recognize a Coffea Arabica in the wild? First, look for a plant with dark green, shiny leaves and a straight stem. Then check for beans. Originally from Ethiopia, this shrub blossoms two to three times per year. When its white aromatic flowers fall to the ground, it is because a little red fruit, called a "cherry" is breaking free. Beneath the cherry lie two pale green beans covered by both a hull and another - slightly thinner - layer.

Because ecological differences existing among the various coffee producing countries, Coffea Arabica has undergone many mutations and now exists in many varieties.

Coffea Canephora
Coffea Canephora usually stands about five to eight metres high but can grow to fifteen metres. Its leaves are a clearer green than those of Coffea Arabica and its beans are smaller than those of Coffea Arabica. This shrub, which originated in the tropics of Africa, exists in two main varieties. It is robust (which is probably why we named its fruit robusta) and it offers a greater yield than Coffea Arabica.

Cultivating Coffee Trees