Narrow leaf coffee Coffea stenophylla G. Don

Coffea stenophylla G. Don, Gen. Syst. 3: 581. 1834; A. Cheval. Op. Cit. 210; A. E. Haarer, op. Cit. 25; Hainan Flora 3: 348. 1974.

Shrubs to small trees, 3-6 m tall, usually 1-3 m above ground before branching; old branches gray-white, with inflated nodes; young branches slender, compressed. Leaves thinly leathery, narrowly oblong or sublinear, 4-8 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm wide, apex acuminate, acuminate part 10-20 mm long, base broadly cuneate, both surfaces glabrous, lower vein axils often with small pores; midvein raised on both surfaces of leaf blade, lateral veins 7-10 on each side; petiole 3-5 mm long; stipules broadly ovate, 2-3 mm long, apex convex or truncate, base connate. Flowers sessile or with 3-6 mm long pedicels, usually composed of 2-4 very short Cymes; inflorescences axillary, with short involucral pedicels; bracts connate at base, scarious, apical truncate or shallowly 2-lobed; calyx subcup-shaped, calyx limb entire; Corolla white or light rose-red, opening 15-20 mm, crown tube 6-8 mm long, apically 6-8-lobed, lobes ovate or oblong, 12-15 mm long, spreading. Filaments 3-4 mm long, anthers prominent, 6-9 mm long; style slender, 11 mm long, prominent, stigma ca. 2 mm, 2-lobed. Berry stipitate, initially globose, later ovate, 12-13 mm long, 8-10 mm in diameter, exocarp smooth, blue-black at maturity; seeds elliptic, 8-9 mm long, seed coat thin. The florescence is from March to April and the fruiting period is November.

There is a small amount of cultivation in Chengmai, Hainan. Native to West Africa.

This species grows fast and produces more fruit, and some people think that the taste of this seed is better than that of small coffee.