Taxonomy_of_the_coffee_plant

Coffea canephora is commonly known as Robusta coffee. Although Robusta was only the name for one cultivar
in central Africa, the whole species is now commonly known by that name. Robusta is adapted to the tropical
lowland of Central and western Africa, but it was originally detected and described in the uplands of Ethiopia.
Being an important species for coffee cultivation, Robusta is now grown in many more areas outside Africa -
especially in Vietnam and Indonesia. However, for Robusta it is harder to distinguish varieties, but rather
cultivars with loose regional connections became a name, e.g. Robusta and Kouilou. The tree grows more than
10 meter, but it is often cultivated rather bushy in plantations to facilitate harvesting of the cherries. Another
similarity to Arabica coffee is the time before a first crop can be harvested, which is around 3 years. However,
Robusta is much more productive than Arabica, yet the age in plantation does not differ much as also Robusta
loses productivity with age. Robusta also produces coffee with lower quality than Arabica and is grown to a
lesser extent than Arabica, which is approximately 40% of yearly coffee production. Robusta is often used in
blends and to produce instant coffee.
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