Question

Coffee plant belongs to the family of
A)Sterculiaceae
B)Rubiaceae
C)Annonaceae
D)Cruciferae

Answer 1

Hint: There are more than 120 varieties of seed-grown coffee. Coffea arabica (commonly known simply as 'Arabica'), which accounts for 60-80 percent of the coffee production in the world, and Coffea canephora (known as 'Robusta'), which accounts for about 20-40 percent, are the two most prominent.

Complete answer:
Coffea is a genus of flowering plants whose seeds, called as coffee beans, are used to make coffee. It is a member of the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. Coffee is a strong bush or small tree which usually grows to a height of 3-3.5 m when grown in the tropics (9.8-11.5 ft). The most commonly cultivated coffee species thrive best at high altitudes but do not tolerate freezing temperatures.

The Coffea arabica tree can bear fruit after three to five years, yielding an average of 50 to 60 years, but up to 100 is possible. The white flowers are perfumed extensively. The fruit needs about 9 months to ripen.

The caffeine in coffee beans, a type of natural plant protection against herbivory, acts as a toxic agent protecting the seeds of the plant. By generating an olfactory memory that signals bees to return to the flowers of the plant, caffeine concurrently activates pollinators, especially honeybees. Not all varieties of Coffee produce caffeine, and there was little or no caffeine content in the earliest species.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B)

Note: In Cameroon, two new species were discovered in 2008. Coffea charrieriana and Coffea anthonyi, which are caffeine-free. Two new features may be added to cultivated coffee plants by mixing the new species with other recognized coffees: beans without caffeine and self-pollination.