<i>Coffea anthonyi</i>, a new self‐compatible Central African coffee species, closely related to an ancestor of <i>Coffea arabica</i>

Abstract

Abstract Coffea anthonyi Stoff. &amp; F. Anthony from Cameroon and the Republic of Congo is formally described. Morphological, biochemical and molecular characteristics, isozyme diversity and phylogenetic relationships are discussed. The new diploid species has strong relationships with the East African C. eugenioides and the allotetraploid cultivated C. arabica . As such, it could be related to a progenitor species of C. arabica . The new species is self‐compatible, being a rare character within the genus Coffea . This new small‐leaved Central African species is of particular interest from a phylogenetic as well as from a breeding point of view.