6o COFFEE 



A slender, thinly-branched tree or tall shrub. Leaves thickly 

 coriaceous, 4 cm. to 6 cm. wide by 12 cm. to 16 cm. long, apex 

 prolonged for about i cm.; veins 6 to 7 (5 to 9 in its various varie- 

 ties) of the first order, clearly distinguishable; petiole over i cm. 

 long. Flowers yellowish, aggregated in 4 to 8 membered axillary 

 fascicles, each flower subtended by i or 2 bracts which extend be- 

 yond the calyx; corolla fissured for two-thirds of its length; tube 

 0.4 cm. long; lobe ovate-lanceolate, 1.5 cm. long; calyx glabrous, 

 slightly dentate. Anthers firmly attached, 0.5 cm. long, completely 

 exserted. Fruit similar to C. arabica L. but somewhat smaller, 1.6 

 cm. long, 0.7 cm. in diameter, ovoid with a faint longitudinal suture; 

 pericarp thin ; seeds oblong-elliptical, 0.6 cm. long. Stone cells very 

 numerous in the testa. 



Diagnostic Characters of the Species: — Flowers and fruits in 

 January; flowers yellowish, not very fragrant; calyx only slightly 

 dentate; fruit smaller than C. arabica L. 



Geographical Distribution : — Congo : Lake Tchad. 



History: — The species was collected in the Congo region of Africa. 

 It was first described in 1897. Ii^ the regions bordering on the 

 equator, it can be cultivated up to 800 M. It is apparently insus- 

 ceptible to Hejjiileia vastatrix according to its behavior in this re- 

 gard when it was investigated in Madagascar. The caffeine con- 

 tent of the seeds is 1.19%. It is not very productive, and its culti- 

 vation has not been largely extended. It embodies two economic 

 varieties; namely, C. congensis Froehner var. Chalotii Pierre mss. 

 ex DeWild. ; and C. congensis Froehner var. subsessilis DeWild. 

 The other varieties are not known to be of economic importance. 

 It is questionable whether they are valid varieties, as they possess an 

 exceedingly close inter-relationship and approximation to some forms 

 of C. arabica L. 



Use: — It is used as a local substitute to some extent for the seeds 

 of C. arabica L. in the tropical regions of Africa and Madagascar. 



Bibliography: — Froehner in Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin i (1897) 233, 

 235; in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 25 (1898) 254, 265. — K. Schum. in Engl. & 

 Prantl Nat. Pflanzenfam. 4, Abt. 4, Nachtr. (1897) 3i5» — ^Th. Durand 

 & DeWild. Mat. Fl. Congo 2 (1898) 75.— Lecomte Le Cafe (1899) 

 27. — DeWild. Les Cafeiers (1901) 15. — Cornaillac El Cafe, la Vai- 

 nilla, el Cacao, etc. (1903) 28. — Chev. in Bot. Centralbl. 93 (1903) 70; 



