Exceptional cup quality but highly susceptible to coffee berry disease. Found mostly in Kenya.

Appearance

Agronomics

information Year of First Production Year Three
information Nutrition Requirement Medium
information Ripening of Fruit Unknown
information Cherry-to-Green-Bean Outturn High
information Planting Density 1000-2000 a/ha (using multiple-stem pruning)
Additional Agronomic Information

SL34 is adapted to high altitude areas with good rainfall. It is characterized by dark bronze shoot tipped plants with a few green-tipped strains. The laterals have semi-erect habit which tend to droop on older primary branches.

Genetics

information Lineage Typica-like genetic background.
information Genetic Description Bourbon-Typica Group (Typica-related)
History

SL34 was originally selected in Kenya the late 1930s at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories (for more on Scott Labs, see SL28). Individual tree selections made at the Scott Laboratories in Kenya during the 1935-1939 period were prefixed “SL.” SL34 was selected from a single tree on the Loresho Estate in Kabete, Kenya since research at the Scott Laboratories was often conducted in cooperation with local, private estate owners. The tree was labeled “French Mission.”

French missionaries known as Spiritans established a mission in 1893 at Bura (Taita Hills, Kenya), in which Bourbon coffee seeds originating from La Réunion island were planted. The seedlings from Bura were brought to another French Mission in Saint Austin (near Nairobi) in 1899, and from there seeds were distributed to settlers willing to grow coffee. This is the origin of so-called French Mission coffee.

Because of the historical movement of coffee seeds directly from La Réunion via the French missionaries, French Mission is widely understood to be another name for Bourbon. However, recent genetic tests have indicated that SL34 is related to the Typica genetic group. It is possible that the original story about SL34 being selected from a French Mission population could be incorrect.

Availability

information Breeder Scott Agricultural Laboratories

Additional Images