Characteristics and Other Details about the Coffee Plant

The coffee plant is a woody perennial evergreen that is a member of the Rubiaceae family. These days, there are typically two main species that are cultivated.

Coffea Arabica, which is also known as Arabica coffee, stands for approximately 75-80% of the entire world's coffee production. Coffea canephora, which is also known as Robusta coffee, creates coffee that does not taste as good as Arabica coffee however the plant is a lot tougher than Arabica shrubs are.

If a coffee plant is not regularly trimmed, it can grow to be more than ten meters tall. In countries where coffee is produced however, they typically keep their coffee plants at a height of around three meters to make for easier picking. For every hectare of coffee, an average of 86 lbs of oxygen per day is created. This equals to around half the production of oxygen that the same amount of rain forest would create.

About three or four years after coffee is planted, flowers that smell very sweet will begin to appear in the axils of the leaves however, fruit is only produced in the new tissue.

 The Arabica species of coffee plants are self-pollinating; the Robusta species of coffee plant on the other hand depends on cross-pollination. Approximately 6-8 weeks after the flowers are fertilized, cell division happens and the fruit remains as a pinhead for a period of time that is determined by the climate of where the plant is being grown.

The next thing that happens is that the ovaries form into drupes in a very fast period of growth that takes approximately 15 weeks after the flowering stage. It is during this stage that the integument forms the shape of bean.

After this fast growth period the integument and parchment are mature and will not grow to be any bigger than they are. Until approximately twelve weeks or so after flowering, the endosperm will stay tiny. Then however, it will take over and move in place of the integument. What remains of the integument are what composes the silverskin.

By nineteen weeks after flowering, the endosperm will have totally packed the cavity that was created by the integument. Although at this point the endosperm is white and damp, they will take on dry substances over the next few months.

As this process goes on, the endosperm will draw greater than seventy percent of the complete photsynthesates that is created by the tree. The mesocarps will increase and create the sweet pulp that encases the bean. Around thirty to thirty-five weeks after the flowing, the cherry will become red, changing from its original green.

In a coffee plant, there are main vertical roots, tap roots, and lateral roots which grow parallel to the ground. The tap roots reach 30-45 cm below the soil surface. Four to eight axial roots can be found and often start off horizontally but aim in a downward direction. The lateral roots can reach 2 m from the trunk. Around 80-90% of the feeder root is found in the first 20 cm of soil and sits about 60-90 cm away from the trunk of the tree.

The biggest root concentration is typically in the 30 to 60 cm depth. The roots systems are very greatly impacted by both the type of soil they are grown in and what the mineral content of that soil is. 

The root system of a coffee plant has to have a big supply of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium to be durable and strong. The elliptical leaves of the coffee tree are glossy, deep green, and waxy.