For coffee, three flowering phases

For coffee, three flowering phases have been proposed (Majerovicz and Söndahl 2005): a) initiation and floral differentiation, b) dormancy and c) flowers opening (anthesis).
Due to difficulties in determining exactly the beginning and the end of each one of these phases, initiation and differentiation are almost imperceptible processes. In these two processes, in which the transition from vegetative to floral bud takes place, the effect of temperature and water supply are almost unknown, as most of the work from the literature is based on gross visual observations, when the floral button is
already differentiated. Therefore, there is a need for studies with advanced microscopic techniques as well as with biochemical (plant hormone levels and variations) and molecular (gene expression) tools to show the exact time coffee
buds differentiate to flowers. The general concepts and the complexity of factors controlling plant flower formation can be found in Bewley et al. (2000) and Dornelas and Dornelas (2005).