Coffee Leaves Please
 

Those lovely dark green elliptical leaves of the coffee tree when healthy, are always shiny with a waxy glow. Coffee bean leaf-area is index to between 7 and 8 for a high-yielding coffee. Across much of the globe coffee plants have become a major source of oxygen. Each hectare of coffee produces 86 lbs of oxygen per day or about half the production of a same size area of the rain forest (source: Anacafe).
 
 
Rooted In Coffee
 
Roots of coffee trees can extend 10-15 feet in length. The tree canope absorbing shade surface in the range of an enormous number of feet. Coffee tree’s main vertical ‘tap’ roots grow lateral while feeder roots spread parallel to the ground. Although, this thick tap root seldom reaches length of similar trees. Four to eight axial roots may be encountered which often originate horizontally but point downward, especially closer to their tips.
 
 80-90% of feeder roots begin nearer the tree then reach as far as 60-90 cm away from the trunk of the coffee tree. Its greatest root concentration is at a depth of 30 to 60 cm. Root systems are heavily affected by soil type as well as soil mineral content. 
 
In order for the Coffee tree to be thick and strong its roots need an extensive supply of nitrogen, calcium and magnesium. During planting, main vertical roots are often clipped in order to promote horizontal roots growth. Being nearer ground surface allows them better access to water and abilliy to absorb nutrients fed to the top soil.
 
General Coffee Over All
 
Coffee plants are woody perennial evergreen dicotyledons.They belong to the Rubiaceae family. Because Coffee trees grows to relatively large heights they are more accurately described as Coffee trees. Each has a main vertical trunk (orthotropic) from which expand primary, secondary, and tertiary horizontal branches (plagiotropic).