The Ten Different Species Of Coffee Plants

The seed of the coffee plant is known as the coffee bean or the pit which is found in the inside of the purple or red fruit, berries as well as coffee cherries. It is most common to find two stones inside the fruit and inside the coffee bean is found endosperm which in turn contains caffeine that is the primary reason that coffee plants are cultivated. In fact, coffee plant growth plays an important role in the economies of some coffee exporting countries of which Costa Rica and Brazil are prime examples.

Coffee Beans Grow In Shrubs Or In Small Trees

There are ten species of coffee plants that can either grow in shrubs or on small trees and these coffee plants are generally native to African as also southern Asian countries. It is the seeds of the coffee plant that provide the stimulating beverage we call coffee and these seeds are termed as beans in the coffee trade parlance. It is common to cultivate these coffee beans on plantations in many tropical countries from where they are exported as well as used locally. After oil, coffee is second in importance as far as valuable commodities are concerned and forms the backbone of exports for a number of countries.

The coffee that grows in a bush or a small tree can grow in the tropics to a height of ten to twelve feet, though such trees and shrubs cannot survive winter frosts. It is necessary for the coffee plant to get enough water to sustain itself and many species of the plant are grown for its beans of which the best is coffea Arabica. The purple and red fruits need to be either picked by hand or stripped from trees and the process is known as careful picking.

The coffee plant is a woody perennial evergreen that is part of the Rubiaceae family and this form of coffee plant grows to a good height and thus is considered as being a coffee tree. Of the many different species of coffee plants, the two main ones are coffee Arabica also called the Arabica coffee which makes up as much as eighty percent of the total world production of coffee. The other species is the coffea canephora also called the Robusta coffee and this makes up the remaining twenty percent of the total world production of coffee and is quite different from Arabica coffee in its taste.