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Coffea arabica, Linn. Common or Ababian Coffee. Fig. 1024. Lvs. 3-6 in. long, rather thin, oblong, nearly 3 times as long as broad, more or less abruptly contracted near the apex to a point about ½in. long: segms. of corolla over twice as long as wide: fr. a 2-seeded, deep crimson berry, but the “berries” or beans of commerce are the seeds. The commercial varieties of coffee are based largely on the size, shape, color and flavor of the seeds, and hence the fr. is very variable, but the typical fr. may be considered to be oval and ½in- long. Indigenous in Abyssinia, Mozambique and Angola; supposed to have been intro. in early Mohammedan times from Abyssinia to Arabia, whence it became known to Europeans in the 16th century. This species furnished until recently the entire commercial product. B.M. 1303. Gng. 6:55.—A variegated form,var. variegata, Hort., is more showy than the type. It is offered by dealers in tropical plants. As coffee grows wild in Afr. it is a small tree 10-15 ft. high, with the trunk 9-12 in. thick at the base. Often cult, under glass in the N. for its economic interest, and in S. Calif, it is a good outdoor ornamental shrub, esteemed for its shining lvs., fragrant white fls., and red berries.
|familia=Rubiaceae
|genus=Coffea
|species=arabica
|common_name=Coffee
|habit=shrub
|Min ht box=9
|Min ht metric=m
|Max ht box=12
|Max ht metric=m
|height_ref=Wikipedia
|lifespan=perennial
|exposure=sun, part-sun
|water=wet, moist, moderate
|features=flowers, fragrance, edible, foliage, houseplant
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=FruitColors.jpg
|image_width=240
}}
}}
'''''Coffea arabica''''' ({{IPAc-en|icon|ə|ˈ|r|æ|b|ɪ|k|ə}}) is a species of ''[[Coffea]]'' originally indigenous to the mountains of [[Yemen]] in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], hence its name, and also from the southwestern highlands of [[Ethiopia]] and southeastern [[Sudan]]. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee". ''Coffea arabica'' is believed to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, being grown in southwest [[Arabia]] for well over 1,000 years. It is said to produce better coffee than the other major commercially grown coffee species, ''[[Coffea canephora]] (robusta)'', but tastes vary. ''C. arabica'' contains less [[caffeine]] than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee. Wild plants grow to between 9 and 12 m tall, and have an open branching system; the [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, simple elliptic-ovate to oblong, 6–12 cm long and 4–8 cm broad, glossy dark green. The [[flower]]s are white, 10–15 mm in diameter and grow in axillary clusters. The [[fruit]] is a [[drupe]] (though commonly called a "berry") 10–15 mm in diameter, maturing bright red to purple and typically contains two [[seed]]s (the coffee 'bean').
==Cultivation==
''C. arabica'' takes about seven years to mature fully, and does best with 1.0–1.5 meters (about 40–59 inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} It is usually cultivated between 1,300 and 1,500 m altitude, but there are plantations as low as sea level and as high as 2,800 m.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and it does best when the temperature hovers around {{convert|20|°C|°F}}.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} Commercial [[cultivar]]s mostly only grow to about 5 m, and are frequently trimmed as low as 2 m to facilitate harvesting. Unlike ''[[Coffea canephora]]'', ''C. arabica'' prefers to be grown in light shade.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}
[[File:Coffea arabica Blanco1.53.png|thumb|right|Drawing of ''Coffea arabica'']]
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
Two to four years after planting, ''C. arabica'' produces small, white and highly fragrant flowers. The sweet fragrance resembles the sweet smell of [[jasmine]] flowers. When flowers open on sunny days, this results in the greatest numbers of berries. This can be a curse, however, as coffee plants tend to produce too many berries; this can lead to an inferior harvest and even damage yield in the following years, as the plant will favour the ripening of berries to the detriment of its own health. On well kept plantations, this is prevented by pruning the tree. The flowers themselves only last a few days, leaving behind only the thick dark green leaves. The berries then begin to appear. These are as dark green as the foliage, until they begin to ripen, at first to yellow and then light red and finally darkening to a glossy deep red. At this point they are called 'cherries' and are ready for picking. The berries are oblong and about 1 cm long. Inferior coffee results from picking them too early or too late, so many are picked by hand to be able to better select them, as they do not all ripen at the same time. They are sometimes shaken off the tree onto mats, which means that ripe and unripe berries are collected together.
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[magnoliopsida]]
The trees are difficult to cultivate and each tree can produce anywhere from 0.5–5.0 kg of dried beans, depending on the tree's individual character and the climate that season. The real prize of this [[cash crop]] are the beans inside. Each berry holds two [[locule]]s containing the beans. The coffee beans are actually two seeds within the fruit, there is sometimes a third seed or one seed, a [[peaberry]] in the fruits at tips of the branches. These seeds are covered in two membranes, the outer one is called the "parchment coat" and the inner one is called the "silver skin."
| ordo = [[Gentianales]]
| familia = [[Rubiaceae]]
On [[Java (island)|Java Island]], trees are planted at all times of the year and are harvested year round. In parts of [[Brazil]], however, the trees have a season and are harvested only in winter. The plants are vulnerable to damage in poor growing conditions (cold, low pH soil) and are also more vulnerable to pests than the ''C. robusta'' plant.<ref>"Coffee: The World in Your Cup. Seattle, WA: Burke Museum at the University of Washington</ref> Gourmet coffees are almost exclusively high-quality mild varieties of arabica coffee, such as [[Colombian coffee]].
[[Image:Coffee Flowers.JPG|thumb|left|''Coffea arabica'' flowers - [[Brazil]]]]
===Propagation===
===Pests and diseases===
==Varieties==
== News from current research ==
==Gallery==
<gallery perrow=5>
File:Starr 070617-7326 Coffea arabica.jpg| photo 1
File:Gardenology.org-IMG 2710 rbgs11jan.jpg| photo 2
File:Gardenology.org-IMG 2708 rbgs11jan.jpg| photo 3
File:Kahvipensas.Coffea Arabica.800px.jpg
File:Gardenology.org-IMG 2708 rbgs11jan.jpg
</gallery>
== Literature ==
==References==
<references/>
* Paulo Mazzafera et al: A naturally decaffeinated arabica coffee. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' 429: 826 (June 2004)
<!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 -->
* ''The World of caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug''. By Bennet Alan Weinberg, and Bonnie K. Bealer
<!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 -->
<!--- xxxxx *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608 -->
== External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.coffeeresearch.org/agriculture/coffeeplant.htm CoffeeResearch.org] - Coffee plant, harvesting, fertilization, processing, and diseases.
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