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Currently Viewing: Coffea mauritiana
Coffea mauritiana - Flowering branch and leaves
David H. Lorence
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Taxonomy:
Coffea mauritiana Lam.(Rubiaceae)

Common Names:
Maroon Coffee
Mascarene Coffee

Classification:

Coffea L.
Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta-Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta-Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta-Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida-Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Rubiales
Family: Rubiaceae-Madder family
Genus Coffea L.- Coffee
Species: mauritiana Lam.- Mauritius Coffee
(National Plant Database. 2004.)

Description:
Mascarene coffee is an attractive small tree or shrub with dark glossy evergreen leaves. The flowers are white, star-like, fragrant, in axillary clusters which appear in the spring. The fruit are brownish-yellow to purple when ripe.
(Watson, L.and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992. The Families of Flowering Plants.)

Geographic Distribution:
Coffea mauritiana is an endemic species of the Reunion and Mauritius, two of the Mascarene Islands located in the south west Indian Ocean.

Food Uses:
Coffea mauritiana produces beans low in caffeine content. From the beans of this plant a coffee drink is prepared with a sharp and bitter taste.

Status:
Thought to be extinct after its discovery on the island of Mauritius in 1877, poplations of this plant
were rediscovered in the 1970s. A specimen of Coffea mauritiana bore fruits at Kew Gardens in London, in May 2004. Nine plants are in cultivation at the National Tropical Botanical Garden's McBryde Garden on Kauai.

NTBG Herbarium Data:

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