Photo: Bernard Dupont, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Theobroma cacao
Cacao, the chocolate tree
- Also called Cacao, Cocoa tree
- Haitian Creole Kakawo
- Spanish Cacao
Evergreen understorey tree, 4-8 m
What it is
Cacao is the small tree that chocolate comes from. It grows naturally in the shade of the Amazon rainforest. Its big, glossy leaves are reddish when young, and its tiny pink and white flowers grow straight out of the trunk and thick branches. These ripen into ridged pods, 15 to 30 cm, that turn yellow, orange or red, each holding 20 to 50 seeds in sweet white pulp.
What it's used for
- Its seeds are fermented, dried and roasted to make cocoa and chocolate, and Haiti exports fine-flavoured cacao.
- Its flowers are pollinated mainly by tiny midges that breed in damp leaf litter, so a shady, untidy farm floor helps yields.
- Grown under taller trees, it keeps a forest-like canopy on farms.
Where we plant it
Our partners plant the mix of native species that suits each site and season, so a gift plants trees in the project rather than this one species. Theobroma cacao is one of the species planted there.
More trees planted in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Pigeon pea (pwa kongo)Cajanus cajan
Sour orange (zoranj si)Citrus aurantium
Papaya (papay)Carica papaya
Arabica coffee (kafe)Coffea arabica
Avocado (zaboka)Persea americana
Lemon (sitwon)Citrus limon
Coconut palm (kokoye)Cocos nucifera
Breadfruit (lam veritab)Artocarpus altilis
See all 16 species in Pollinator Agroforestry in Haiti
Other species we plant
Mangrove Restoration in Kenya
4 species
Rebuilding Oregon's Forests
5 species
Reforestation in Tamil Nadu, India
37 species
LimeberryBaheda or Beleric myrobalanBig-fruited jamunSouth Indian suregadaJamun, Naval or Black plumDevil pepper or Wild snakerootWoody-fruited PterospermumCork-leaved bayurVengai, Vijaysar or Indian kinoCeylon boxwoodCorky debbar treePanakka treeWinged naringi, a wild citrusPamburus, a wild citrus relativeElumbotti, the bone-knit shrubClimbing olaxBakul, Magizham or Spanish cherryKaya or Ironwood treeNotched-leaf spike thornPalai, Palu or KhirniPointed-leaf jasmineIndian screw tree or ValampuriGrewia, a dry-country shrubGrewia, a dry-forest shrubOrangeberry or KonjiGarlic fruit or Bitter garciniaHairy fig or PeyattiWild karanda or ConkerberryCansjera, a native forest climberShining bush-violetVagai or Siris treeUsilai or Krishna sirisChokkalai or Droopy leafWild lime or Kattu elumichaiKorinti, a custard-apple relativeIndian allophylus or TitberryLolly berry or Saptarangi
