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Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)

Dlium Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)

Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) is a perennial plant species in Malvaceae in the tropics, in the form of a tree 10 m high but in cultivation it will be limited to only 5 m to expand the canopy and multiply branches so that more fruit grows where the seeds are processed as chocolate.

T. cacao has flowers like other Sterculiaceae members that grow directly from the stem, perfect and single flowers, 3 cm in diameter, but appear in panicles because often a bunch of flowers emerges from a single bud.



The flowers are white and are ready to be pollinated within a few days especially by the Forcipomyia fly, winged ants, aphids and some Trigona bees which usually occur at night. The main pests of this plant are Bactrocera carambolae and Bactrocera papayae.

Cacao trees generally cross-pollinate and have their own incompatibilities, but some varieties are capable of self-pollinating and produce higher-selling commodity types.

The fruit grows from pollinated flowers, has a fruit size much larger than the flower and is round to elongated. The fruit consists of five lines and the space where seeds grow. Young fruit is green to purple, but the outer skin is usually yellow when ripe.

Seeds arranged on the placenta that grow from the base of the fruit on the inside. The seeds are black and protected by soft white aryl. Endospermia contains high levels of fat. Pulp is generally fermented for three days then the seeds are dried in the sun.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Byttnerioideae
Genus: Theobroma L. in Sp. Pl.: 782 (1753)
Species: Theobroma cacao L. in Sp. Pl.: 782 (1753)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Cacao sativa Aubl. in Hist. Pl. Guiane 2: 689 (1775)
Cacao theobroma Tussac in Fl. Antill. 1: t. 13 (1811)
Theobroma cacao subsp. sativum León in Hardy's Cacao Man.: 312 (1960)
Theobroma sativum Lign. & Bey in Bull. Soc. Linn. Normandie 8: 263 (1904)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Cacao minus Gaertn. in Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2: 190 (1791)
Theobroma cacao f. lacandonense Cuatrec. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35: 514 (1964)
Theobroma cacao var. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cif. in Mem. Cl. Sci. Fis. Mat. Nat. Reale Accad. Italia 4: 604 (1933)
Theobroma cacao subsp. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec. in Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 13(3A): 654 (1956)
Theobroma cacao f. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Ducke in Rodriguésia 4: 274 (1940)
Theobroma cacao subsp. pentagonum (Bernoulli) León in Hardy's Cacao Man.: 312 (1960)
Theobroma cacao f. pentagonum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35: 513 (1964)
Theobroma cacao subsp. sphaerocarpum (A.Chev.) Cuatrec. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35: 515 (1964)
Theobroma caribaeum Sweet in Sweet's Hort. Brit., ed. 2.: 67 (1830)
Theobroma integerrimum Stokes in Bot. Mat. Med. 4: 83 (1812)
Theobroma kalagua De Wild. in Bull. Herb. Boissier 7: 957 (1899)
Theobroma leiocarpum Bernoulli in Übersicht Theobroma: 6 (1869)
Theobroma mexicanum Ten. in Cat. Ort. Bot. Napoli: 71, 97 (1845)
Theobroma minus (Gaertn.) A.Chev. in Rev. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 26: 283 (1946)
Theobroma pentagonum Bernoulli in Übersicht Theobroma: 6 (1869)
Theobroma saltzmannianum Bernoulli in Übersicht Theobroma: 7 (1869)
Theobroma sapidum Pittier in Bol. Soc. Venez. Ci. Nat. 1: 183 (1932)
Theobroma sativum var. leucospermum A.Chev. in Bull. Int. Bot. Appl. 26: 270 (1946)
Theobroma sativum var. melanospermum A.Chev. in Bull. Int. Bot. Appl. 26: 270 (1946)
Theobroma sphaerocarpum A.Chev. in Vég. Ut. Afr. Trop. Franç. 4: 12 (1908)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Barthelat, F. (2019). La flore illustrée de Mayotte: 1-687. Biotope éditions.

Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K., Rodríguez Delcid, D. & Olmedo Galán, P. (2016). Nova Silva Cuscatlantica. Parte 3: Angiospermae - Familias R a Z y Gymnospermae. Englera 29(3): 1-356.

Bernal, R., Gradstein, R.S. & Celis, M. (eds.) (2016). Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia 1-2: 1-3068. Libro impreso.

Dassanayake (ed.) (1995). A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon 9: 1-482. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. LTD., New Delhi, Calcutta.

Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia, A Journal of Botanical Research 41: 41-82.

Florence, J. (2004). Flore de la Polynésie Française 2: 1-503. IRD editions, Paris.

Fosberg, F.R., Sachet, M.-H., Oliver, R. (1979). A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Dicotyledonae. Micronesica; Journal of the College of Guam 15: 41-295.

Garcia-Mendoza, A.J. & Meave, J.A. (eds.) (2012). Diversidad florística de Oaxaca: de musgos a angiospermas (colecciones y listas de especies), ed. 2: 1-351. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2015). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica. Volumen VIII. Dicotyledóneas (Sabiaceae-Zygophyllaceae). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 131: 1-657. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Lejoly, J. & Geerinck, D. (2010). Flore de la Tshopo (RD Congo): Familles des Malvaceae, Orchidaceae, Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae. Taxonomania 29: 1-41.

Lisowski, S. (2009). Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée. Scripta Botanica Belgica 41: 1-517.

Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

Molino, J.-F., Sabatier, D., Grenand, P., Engel, J., Frame, D., Delprete, P.G., Fleury, M., Odonne, G., Davy, D., Lucas, E.J. & Martin, C.A. (2022). An annotated checklist of the tree species of French Guiana, including vernacular nomenclature. Adansonia, sér. 3, 44: 345-903.

Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Onana, J.M. (2011). The vascular plants of Cameroon a taxonomic checklist with IUCN assessments: 1-195. National herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé.

Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Robyns, W. & al. (eds.) (1948-1963). Flore du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi 1-10.

Smith, A.C. (1981). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 2: 1-810. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.

Trusty, J.L., Kesler, H.C. & Delgado, G.H. (2006). Vascular flora of Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, ser. 4, 57: 247-355.

Velayos, M., Barberá, P., Cabezas, F.J., de la Estrella, M., Fero, M. & Aedo, C. (2014). Checklist of the vascular plants of Annobón (Equatorial Guinea). Phytotaxa 171: 1-78.

Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 12: 1-534. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

VERNACULAR NAME

Bribri: Tsiru’
Burmese: ကိုကိုး Kokoe
Chinese (simplified): 可可树 - 可可
Chinese (traditional): 可可樹
Czech: Kakaovník pravý
Danish: Kakao
Dutch: Cacaoboom
English: Cacao tree, cocoa tree, Cocoa, Cacao, Chocolate nut tree
Estonian: Harilik kakaopuu
Filipino: Cacao
Finnish: Kaakaopuu
French: Cacaoyer, Cacao
German: Kakaobaum
Indonesia: Kakao, Cokelat
Italian: Cacao
Japanese: カカオ - カカオノキ - 加加阿
Java: Kakao
Láadan: Ahanayáanin
Malayalam: Kokkoo
Malaysia: Koko
Martinique: Kako
Otomí: Chudenchú
Palauan: Sukelatei
PNG: Diwai kakau
Polish: Kakaowiec właściwy
Portugal: Cacaueiro, Cacau, Cacau-verdadeiro
Russian: Какао
Slovak: Kakaovník obyčajný
Spanish: Cacao
Sranan Tongo: Kakaw
Swedish: Kakao
Tamil: கக்கவோ Kakkavo
Thai: โคโค่
Turkish: Kakao
Vietnam: Ca cao

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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