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A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 



recognized generally by the regular tubular corolla, the 

 inferior ovary, and the floral number four. However, the 

 tropical members of the family yield two important products 

 that should not escape mention. 



Coffee. The coffee plant (Coffea arabica) is a native 

 of Arabia and Abyssinia, and is a slender tree becoming 

 fifteen to twenty-five feet high (Fig. 294) , but rarely allowed 

 to become more than half that height in cultivation. The 



fruit is a dark scarlet berry (Fig. 

 295) containing two horn-like 

 seeds, which are ordinarily called 

 coffee-beans (Fig. 296). The use 



I m 



FIG. 294. The coffee-tree. 

 After BAILLON. 



FIG. 295. Fruiting branch of coffee. 

 After BAILLON. 



of coffee can be traced back in Arabia for only about five 

 hundred years, and its use in Europe extends over only 

 half that time. Coffee plantations have been established 

 in regions of high annual temperature (ranging from 60 

 to 90), Brazil producing more coffee than all other coun- 



