Coffee (Coffea arabica) is an evergreen tropical shrub or small tree in the Rubiaceae family associated especially with Ethiopia and East Africa. It bears glossy leaves, fragrant white flowers, and red berries that contain the seeds known as coffee beans. Those seeds are the part traditionally roasted and brewed.
Coffee is used far more as a beverage plant than as a classical herb, yet its place in social and household tradition is enormous. Roasted coffee has long been valued for alertness, warmth, and ritual hospitality, and the plant remains one of the most influential botanical food crops in the world.
