Exactly where and when coffee was first cultivated is not known, but some authorities believe that it was grown initially in Arabia near the Red Sea about AD 675. Coffee cultivation was rare until the 15th and 16th centuries, when extensive planting of the tree occurred in the Yemen region of Arabia.

The consumption of coffee increased in Europe during the 17th century, prompting the Dutch to cultivate it in their colonies. In 1714 the French succeeded in bringing a live cutting of a coffee tree to the island of Martinique in the West Indies. This single plant was the genesis of the great coffee plantations of South America.

Coffee Common name for any of a genus of trees of the madder family, and also for their seeds (beans) and for the beverage brewed from them. Of the 30 or more species of the genus, only three are important: Arabian, Robusta, and Liberian. The shrub or small tree, 4.6 to 6 m (15 to 20 ft) high at maturity, bears shiny green, ovate leaves that persist for three to five years and white fragrant flowers that bloom for only a few days.
During the six or seven months after the appearance of the flower, the fruit develops, changing from light green to red and, ultimately, when fully ripe and ready for picking, to deep crimson.
The mature fruit, which resembles a cherry, grows in clusters attached to the limb by very short stems, and it usually contains two seeds, or beans, surrounded by a sweet pulp. Coffee grows well on the islands of Hawaii, particularly the Kona coast region, where Waiaha River coffee is grown, in the rich volcanic soil.
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