Mr. _RAY_, in his _Histor. Plantar._ _pag. 1691._ calls it _Coffee Frutex_, _ex cujus Fructu fit Potus_. He had not seen the _Plant_, but discourses largely on its Virtues, which I shall give an Account of in the proper Place. MONSIEUR _PONCETT_, in his Voyage to _Æthiopia_, makes it a Native of that Country; it was, as he says, transplanted from thence to _Arabia Felix_, and at this time the _Æthiopians_ cultivate it only as a Curiosity: he describes it to be like the _Myrtle_ in its Leaves, but larger and tufted; the _Fruit_ like _Pistachio_ Nut, green at first, and of a darker Colour when it is ripe: and this they call _Coffee_. MANY others have mentioned the _Fruit_ to be of a _Citron_ Colour, and of a Greyish White: but it appears plain to me, they have never seen it in its Prosperity, as I have done; of which my Reader may be satisfied, when he compares such Accounts with the Description I shall give of it. DR. _COMELIN_, _Botanick_ Professor at _Amsterdam_, in his Lectures on _Plants_, places this _Tree_ among the _Jessamines_, and compares the Leaf to that of our common _Chesnut_; but as that Gentleman has not yet printed any Account of it, I shall not therefore attempt to publish the Name at large, which he has given it. He is undoubtedly in the right to class it with the _Jessamines_; but I rather join in Opinion with my learned Friend Mr. _Petiver_, that the Leaf is more like to that of the _Laurus Vulgaris_, or common _Bay_, but larger. THUS having given a View of what has been mentioned by the several Authors concerning the Name and Description of this _Tree_, I shall proceed to describe it from the Knowledge I have of it. IN the _Physick-Garden_ of _Amsterdam_ are two _Coffee-Trees_ above seventeen foot high, which have been for some time in a bearing State, and have, at most Seasons, _Fruit_ upon them; from one of these _Trees_ I design’d the Figure prefix’d to this Treatise, which in every Point resembles the Branch I took it from, except only the Size, which ought to be one third part bigger to make it equal with the Life. THE _Tree_ is of very quick Growth, and naturally inclinable to shoot upright; ’tis reported, that in its native Country it generally attains to the height of forty or fifty foot, although the Stem, in the thickest part, does not exceed five Inches in Diameter. The Leaves are Bi-composite (or set in cross Pairs at the Joints) and not unlike those of the common _Bay_, but curl’d at the Edges, and inclinable to hang down. The _Flowers_ put forth in Clusters at the Joints, towards the Extremities of the Branches; they make their first Appearance in _July_, and are in Figure, Size, and Colour the same with those of the common _Jessamine_, with the Addition only of five yellow _Apices_, which hang loosely on the Top of the Flower, and a _Style_ which projects near half an Inch above it: their Smell is faint, and little worth our Notice.