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Coffea wightiana Wall. ex Wight & Arn.

Rubiaceae · India, Sri Lanka · listed by its genus as a tropical foliage plant

Photographs not checked iNaturalist was skipped (not asked) when this page was built. Not asked, or not answered, is not "none": nothing here claims there is none. Why the site says it this way.
Add one to my plants
Sow seed
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
17.9°C
Record low 14.6 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
35°C
May and Jun at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,188mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
27–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A rainy season, July to December, neither the cool nor the warm half of the year. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 8 records in 8 grid cells. The records.

About the genus · Coffea

Coffea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Coffea species are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. The seeds of some species, called coffee beans, are roasted and ground to brew into various coffee beverages. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Coffea", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant, listed under the genus Coffea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub”, “seasonally dry tropical”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a rainy season with no name: 70% of the median year's rain (868 mm of 1,146 mm) falls in July to December, whose mean temperature, 27.6 °C, is within half a degree of the year's, 27.7 °C, so it is neither the cooler nor the warmer part of the year. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: January to June.

Rain

1,146 mm in the median year at the habitat, 868 mm of it July to December. Wettest month November at 232 mm, driest month January at 27 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,015 mm to 1,310 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,188 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,146 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 17.9 °C, the absolute minimum 14.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 39.1 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 20.1 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 17.7 °C to 22.1 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 35.0 °C in May (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 17.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -21 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Coffea in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “shrub”, “seasonally dry tropical”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 8 records in 8 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Coffea wightiana through the yearWarmest months May and June, mean daily high 35 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 20.1 °C; 1,146 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°45°39.1° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER14.6° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 27–43RH 56–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 8 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 27–2930 / 29–3232 / 31–3534 / 32–3735 / 31–3835 / 30–3634 / 30–3534 / 30–3533 / 30–3431 / 29–3329 / 28–2928 / 27–28
Night °C20 / 18–2221 / 19–2322 / 21–2425 / 23–2626 / 24–2726 / 24–2726 / 24–2625 / 24–2625 / 23–2624 / 22–2522 / 20–2421 / 19–23
Rain mm27 / 16–14228 / 10–8036 / 16–6659 / 21–10870 / 50–8858 / 22–6485 / 31–9791 / 29–133128 / 57–163188 / 165–244232 / 165–284144 / 78–230
DLI32 / 28–3438 / 36–3943 / 41–4342 / 39–4340 / 38–4236 / 35–3734 / 32–3734 / 32–3936 / 35–3932 / 31–3527 / 26–2927 / 25–30
RH %62 / 60–6561 / 57–6360 / 56–6260 / 57–6359 / 54–6256 / 53–6257 / 54–6157 / 55–6158 / 57–6363 / 61–6565 / 64–6764 / 63–66
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 8 grid cells holding the 8 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1640:5218 (7.975, 80.925). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 14.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 17.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 39.1 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 8 distinct grid cells holding 8 of the 8 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1640:5218 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 8.00_80.625, lapse-corrected -21 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 100 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeIndia, Sri Lanka · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker11.695, 79.275 · in the densest population, 6 records (50% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 12 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 8 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 5 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 65 km away. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 4 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 12 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Not checked. iNaturalist was skipped (not asked) when this page was built; GBIF's observation records with coordinates hold none. Not a statement that none exist.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Pterospermum suberifolium Pterospermum suberifolium Malvaceae Photo: CC BY, Rama NarayananBenkara malabarica Benkara malabarica Rubiaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedCapparis brevispina Capparis brevispina Capparaceae Photo: CC BY, Paulmathi VinodPterospermum xylocarpum Pterospermum xylocarpum Malvaceae Photo: CC0, Aruna GamuzDrypetes sepiaria Drypetes sepiaria Putranjivaceae Photo: CC BY, Rohit NaniwadekarPamburus missionis Pamburus missionis Rutaceae Photo: CC BY, madhavan a.p

Other Coffea 17 in the reference

Coffea anthonyi Rubiaceae Coffea arabica Coffea arabica Coffee Photo: CC BY, EMDGL5Coffea benghalensis Coffea benghalensis Rubiaceae Photo: CC BY, Sayee Girdhari Coffea brevipes Rubiaceae Coffea canephora Coffea canephora Robusta coffee Photo: CC BY, kalyanvarma Coffea congensis Congo coffee Coffea kapakata Rubiaceae Coffea liberica Coffea liberica Excelsa Coffee Photo: CC BY, Adam KamalCoffea mauritiana Coffea mauritiana Rubiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Laurent BrillardCoffea myrtifolia Coffea myrtifolia Rubiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, S Molteno Coffea perrieri Rubiaceae Coffea pocsii Rubiaceae all 18 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Paracoffea wightiana; Psilanthus wightianus. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataiNaturalist

The record

Family
Rubiaceae
Described by
Wall. ex Wight & Arn.
Native to
India, Sri Lanka
Wild records
12 in range · 5 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 8.00_80.625, lapse-corrected -21 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media nothing to reportasked 2026-10-21
Wikimedia Commons commons nothing to reportasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 6 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…