In 2008 botanists described Coffea charrieriana, a coffee species from Cameroon that contains no caffeine. It was the first caffeine-free coffee recorded in Central Africa and only the second in Africa.
It was first collected in 1983 and grown in a research collection for years before it was described. Cameroon is one of three hotspots of coffee diversity, with about as many species as Tanzania.
Field notes
What the record says
- Coffea charrieriana was described in 2008 in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.1
- It is the first caffeine-free Coffea species recorded in Central Africa and only the second in Africa.1
- Cameroon is one of three diversity hotspots for the coffee genus, with a species count similar to Tanzania's.1
- The species was first collected in 1983 and described in 2008.2
What we couldn't confirm
Thin but strong: a peer-reviewed abstract. The collection site (Bakossi Forest Reserve) and the 1983 vs 1985 collection date conflict across sources; 1983 is from a blog. No ritual or growing details sourced.
Sources
- A new caffeine-free coffee from Cameroon · Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society (record via IRD documentation), 2008 in the bibliography
- New coffee species from Madagascar · Coffee & Conservation, 2009 in the bibliography
