Coffee trees have range. They can be anything from small shrubs to tall trees, and if they’re not pruned, they can grow to more than 30 feet (9 meters) high. Their veiny, waxy leaves can measure from one to 16 inches in size, and their colors can range from purple to yellow to dark green (the most common). Each tree is covered in leaves, which grow in pairs across from each other, and the coffee cherries grow along the branches. The average coffee tree produces 10 pounds of coffee cherries per year, or 2 pounds of green, unprocessed beans.

What is coffee … other than the beverage of choice for people with excellent taste, that is. An even more accurate question might be what is coffee made of? Coffee beans, sure – but did you know those are actually seeds found inside the cherries (also called the fruit) of coffee trees? They grow in more than 40 countries around the world, and when dried, roasted, and ground, the seeds are used to brew coffee.