Wikimedia Commons
Rubiaceae
Coffee Flower
Coffea arabica
Awakening, energy, morning ritual.
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Genus
- Coffea
- Native to
- Ethiopia
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- Shrub or small tree
- Height
- 2–4.5 m (6.5–15 ft)
- Sunlight
- Part shade
- Soil
- Rich, acidic, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate to high
- Hardiness
- 10–11
- Lifespan
- Long-lived (50–80 years)
Did you know
- Coffee flowers smell exactly like jasmine—sweet, intense, and floral—nothing like the dark roasted aroma we associate with the drink.
- The flowers bloom in synchronized bursts after rain—an entire plantation can erupt in white flowers overnight, a brief cloud-like 'snow on the equator' lasting only 2–3 days.
- Each flower must be pollinated to produce a coffee 'cherry'—wild coffee depends on bees, and pollinator decline now threatens coffee yields across Latin America.
- Coffea arabica was first discovered in Ethiopia, where 9th-century legend says a goatherd named Kaldi noticed his goats becoming hyperactive after eating the red berries.
- Each coffee 'cherry' contains two beans (which are actually seeds)—the world drinks over 2.25 billion cups of coffee per day, all originating from these unassuming white spring flowers.
Color meanings
0
awakening
1
energy
2
morning ritual