‘Coffea Arabica – The Humble Tree behind the Celebrated Drink’, was the subject of the winning project for Missouri Botanical Garden's Power Of Plants Competition. The guidelines called for teams to pick a plant and discover how it helps people and why that plant deserves recognition. 

Regina and Reuben Doty (whose father Jay Doty of LEWISITES is a well known St Louis Landscape Architect) and  Gianna and Lauren Sparks (whose father Gio Sparks worked at Monsanto and is now at Washington University) are the remarkable team behind the winning entry. The Sparks have a coffee company called La Cosecha, selling International free trade coffee that they custom roast at their home, locally, and sell at places like World Market.  The kids had access to great information  on coffee plants, and have done a lot of their own research in addition. 

Congratulations to Regina, Reuben, Gianna and Lauren for impressing the judges at Missouri Botanical Gardens and creating such an excellent piece of work.