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Coffea arabica

Kaope

Arabian Coffee

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Coffee plants	64KB
Image:	Fruit, leaves and flowers	60KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Arabian Coffee, Arabica Coffee; German Arabischer Kaffee; French Café

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kaope / Kaope ‘Enua (RR), Kaope (MG AT AK), Kaope Māori / Kaope ‘Enua (MK), Kaope Māori (MT); Other Polynesian - Kofe (SAM)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE sw.Sudan - nw.Ethiopia - n.Kenya

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent (Missionary, pre-1837, from Norfolk), Naturalised; S.Group only - widespread; Land, lowlands - mountains (+++)

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Medicine, Beverage (SD 3+)

KEY FEATURES: Shrub to 4m. LEAVES opposite; elliptic to 20x8cm, glossy green, swollen between veins, edge smooth and wavy, tip sharp; stalk 1cm; stipules 5mm, persistent. FLOWERS axillary clusters, fragrant; corolla white, tube (1cm) with face 3cmØ of 5 strap-like lobes. FRUIT ovoid, to 2x1cm(LxØ), ripen red. SEEDS 2, large.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) leaf size similar, corolla lobes 5-7 (vs. 5), fruits similar, flower bracteoles to 20mm (vs. to 5mm); Liberica Coffee (Coffea liberica) leaves larger to 30x12cm (vs. 20x8cm), corolla lobes 6-11, fruits to 3cmL.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	++++	++++	P	++?	++	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Coffea arabica Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ASTERIDAE; Rubiales; RUBIACEAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Seeds used to make a beverage. Introduced pre-1837 by Missionaries; inland slope plantations were extensive by 1870 and collapsed soon after 1900.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1120 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.800 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.293 Hortus 3rd
p.274 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.861 Tropica
p.4/223 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.283 R* Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.101 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.366b Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.101 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM03a, zD02, zupD05b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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