The coffee species Coffea stenophylla, which bears black fruit rather than the red fruit typical of the two coffee species that are widely grown commercially, is seen in Ivory Coast in this undated photograph.

A “forgotten” coffee plant that can grow in warmer conditions – and which scientists say could help future-proof the drink against climate change – has been found thriving in Sierra Leone.

Coffea stenophylla is a wild coffee species from West Africa which, until recently, was thought to be extinct outside Ivory Coast.

The plant was recently re-discovered growing wild in Sierra Leone, where it was historically grown as a coffee crop about a century ago.

A small sample of coffee beans from Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast were roasted and made into coffee, which was then tasted by a panel of coffee connoisseurs.

They also modelled climate data for the plant, which suggests it can potentially tolerate temperatures at least 6C higher than the Arabica species.

Seedlings will be planted this year in order to start assessing the wild coffee’s potential in safeguarding the future of high-quality coffee.