Coffea liberica W. Bull ex Hiern, Rubiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Evaluate, score: 1 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Liberian coffee

Maori (Cook Islands): kaope papa‘ā

Habit:  tree

Description:  "A robust small to medium tree (when not pruned); leaves oblong-obovate, very coriaceous, acuminate, base acute, 15-35 cm long, 6-15 cm wide, on petiole of 1-2 cm; lateral nerves 6-12 pairs; cymes few together; flowers solitary on peduncle; pedicels 2-5 mm; calyx-tube 4 mm; corolla 2.5-3 cm long, 6-11-lobed; ripe fruit large, 1.8-3 cm long, red, with thick mesocarp" (Stone, 1970; p. 542).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "infrequently cultivated...at elevations from near sea level to about 200 m, and also sparingly naturalized in light forest and along trails (Smith, 1988; pp. 224-225).

Propagation:  Seeds, often dispersed by birds, fruit bats and rats (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998; p. 102).

Native range:  West Africa and eastward to Sudan and Uganda (Smith, 1988; pp. 224-225).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Vanua Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1988) (pp. 224-225) Voucher cited: DA 15767 Sparingly naturalized.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1988) (pp. 224-225) Vouchers cited: DA 11638, DA 1550, DA 5515, DA 13223 Sparingly naturalized.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Moorea Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 232) Voucher cited: Florence 9298
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 232) Voucher cited: Birnbaum 103
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 542) Present status unknown.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 264)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. (2002) (pp. 14-15) Voucher cited: C. Imada & G. Staples 2000-11 (BISH) Widespread
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 123) Voucher cited: MacKee 38080
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced cultivated	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (pp. 175-176) Voucher cited: CHR 170412
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 264)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Koror Island		Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.) (1966) (voucher ID: BNM 656) Taxon name on voucher: Coffea liberica Miers?

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive cultivated	Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. (1998) (p. 102)

Comments:  In Guam, "sparingly cultivated..., perhaps no longer persisting" (Stone, 1970; p. 542).  Introduced experimentally to Niue (Sykes, 1970; pp. 175-176) but not noted on more recent surveys.  See also C. arabica.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Coffea liberica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Coffea liberica as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Coffea liberica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Beleu National Museum (Republic of Palau. Koror.). 1966. Voucher specimen #BNM656(Cheatham 133).

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Smith, Albert C. 1988. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 4. 377 pp.

Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. 2002. New Hawaiian plant records for 2000. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 68:3-18.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1990. Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands: The plants, their Maori names, and their uses. Allertonia 5(4):347-424.