Article: Coffee, Botany of

Coffee, Botany of

Coffee is made from the bean of the coffee plant, Coffea arabica or Coffea canephora, in the Rubiaceae family. It is native to the forest understory of the east African highlands. It grows best with frequent rains, warm but not extreme temperatures, and hilly ground 600 to 1,200 meters (2,000 to 4,000 feet) above sea level and therefore has been cultivated in high tropical regions around the globe.

The coffee plant is a woody shrub, and it grows in the wild as high as 12 meters (39 feet), but cultivated trees are pruned to 2 meters (6.5 feet) to make harvesting easier. Small, white flowers give rise to a red, fleshy fruit, the "coffee cherry," which contains a pair of ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!