Coffea Canephora; Caffeinated Salvation

Coffea canephora (Robusta Coffee; syn. Coffea robusta) originated in the western part of Africa. This species of coffee beans is widely grown in Africa and Brazil where locals called it as Conillion. The French colonist led the way of cultivating this particular coffee species around late 19th century.

The plant is characterized by a large umbrella-shaped growth. The leaves are thinner that that of any types of coffee plant. They may vary in shape, some being oval with obtuse base and apex having acuminate tip and other being elliptical with acute base and apex. The edge of the leaf is scalloping. The flowers are white with 5-6 petals. The coffee beans which are smaller than Arabica are closely clustered when ripe, hey are blood red, some being solid in color and other are with fine strip of dark red and light red.

Canephora is easier to cultivate than the other major species of coffee, Coffea Arabica, and, because of this, is cheaper to produce. Roughly one third of the coffee produced in the world is robusta because farmers choose to grow the faster growing coffee plant to balance the upswings in the price of coffee beans.