Coffee Berry (Coffea species). Coffee beans are actually the seeds
of the fleshy berries that grow on the coffee tree, each berry containing
two seeds or beans. The plant probably takes its name from Kaffa,
Ethiopia, where it originated, but today is principally grown in South
America, where it was brought by Europeans in the early eighteenth
century; plants from France's Louis XV's greenhouses are the ancestors of
all South American plants. It can be cultivated outside in the United
States only in the southernmost parts of Florida and even these
temperatures aren’t really hot enough for it to bear well, nor is the
altitude high enough. Nevertheless it is grown as a striking ornamental in
Florida and as a green house curiosity in all parts of the country. Two
species are usually grown; Coffea arabica, common or Arabian coffee, and
Coffea liberica, Liberian coffee. These are very similar evergreen shrubs
about 10 to fifteen feet high with many stems, wax like leaves, and
fragrant large white flowers, the first species bearing clusters of cherry
like red fruit and the second black fruit. The showy shrubs yield when
only 3 years old, bear for up to 50 years, and can stand severe pruning to
keep them manageable in a greenhouse, making them a worthwhile plant to
grow under glass. They should be planted i a soil of one part peat, one
part sand, and two parts loam, keep moist, and raised in a warm (70
degrees to 75 degrees F.) house. The easiest way to prune them is by the
single stem method, removing all upright branches and allowing the central
stems to grow only 4 feet high, which encourages lateral branching.
Propagation is usually by cuttings taken from upright branches, or by seed
sown in sandy soil during early spring with the greenhouse temperatures at
85 degrees F. If you feel this is too much trouble to grow your own coffee
beans, try the Kentucky Coffee Tree.
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