Rubiaceae is one of the largest families with around 13,000 species in over 600 genera. While most of these plants are not household words, at least two of them are, and one is among the best known of all -- coffee. Most of the world's coffee is Coffea arabica, seen here growing on the slopes of Costa Rica. When ripe, the bright red berries taste a little bit bitter and a little bit sweet. It was great after a lifetime of drinking the stuff to get up close and personal with the shrubs and berries.
About twenty percent of commercially harvested coffee comes from Coffea robusta, also known as Coffea canephora. There are dozens other species growing wild throughout tropics and new ones have recently been found in Madagascar and Cameroon. To varying degrees they all contain caffeine, a bitter toxin produced by the plant to repel predators. Robusta contains more caffeine, making it easier to grow but not as flavorful as arabica.
About twenty percent of commercially harvested coffee comes from Coffea robusta, also known as Coffea canephora. There are dozens other species growing wild throughout tropics and new ones have recently been found in Madagascar and Cameroon. To varying degrees they all contain caffeine, a bitter toxin produced by the plant to repel predators. Robusta contains more caffeine, making it easier to grow but not as flavorful as arabica.
Another genus that has made its mark on the world is Cinchona, a tropical shrub with unique medicinal qualities. It is named after the Peruvian Countess of Chinchon, who is said to have been cured of malaria by native Quechuan people familiar with the plant's curative powers. The active ingredient present in the bark is known as quinine, which to this day is used to treat malaria. Its cultivation and use by Europeans facilitated the settlement of tropical areas that were otherwise hotbeds of the disease.
A few members of the Rubiaceae family are used ornamentally, the best known perhaps being the Gardenia genus. These tropical evergreen shrubs produce beautiful, white, sweet-smelling flowers. The name honors the appropriately-named Scottish botanist Alexander Garden.
A lesser known ornamental shrub that I have encountered in California is the Mirror Bush, Coprosma repens, which comes from New Zealand. Its common name must derive from the fact that the leaves are among the glossiest I have ever seen. All in all a very striking shrub, one that I would have otherwise never connected to coffee.
A lesser known ornamental shrub that I have encountered in California is the Mirror Bush, Coprosma repens, which comes from New Zealand. Its common name must derive from the fact that the leaves are among the glossiest I have ever seen. All in all a very striking shrub, one that I would have otherwise never connected to coffee.
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