Genetic analysis of the varieties of Coffea arabica L. revealed so far that most of them differ from the standard variety typica by one or two main pairs of genetic factors. Twenty four varieties are planted in a collection at the Central Experiment Station of the Instituto Agronômico, in Campinas. Several other varieties not yet described are being studied. It is suggested that new variations found in C. arabica, which is self-fertile and predominantly self-pollinated in nature, be described as new varieties only after the homozygous condition for the genetic factors which are responsible for their main characteristics have been observed. Haploid (monosperma) and polyploid (bullata) plants should not be considered as varieties. In order to avoid unnecessary complexity in the taxonomy of C. arabica it is also suggested that recombinations of genetic factors which are individually responsible for the main characteristics of different varieties should not be described as new varieties. More than one hundred recombinations of two pairs of factors were obtained in the course of the genetic analysis of C. arabica varieties, some of them determining striking phenotypical effects. The main features of a few recombinant types were described in this paper.