Caturra coffee plants (C. arabica) have short stature and compact growth habit due to the reduced internode length of both orthotropic and plagiotropic branches. This mutation - probably originated in the cv Bourbon Vermelho - is agronomically desirable since planting density may be increased, and harvest as well as phytosanitary treatments are facilitated. The inheritance of that trait was investigated by nursey and field scoring of over 55,000 plants of populations S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 of the original accessions and F1, F2, F3, BC and test crosses derived from crosses of Caturra with normal cultivars. It was concluded that the short stature of Caturra is controled by a single dominant factor to which was assigned the symbol Ct. Owing to its economic value, this allele Ct is being transferred to high yielding cultivars of C. arabica.