Plant · P-936

Cacao

Theobroma cacao

Cacao is a slow-growing evergreen tree grown for its seeds - fermented dried roasted and ground into cocoa chocolate and cocoa butter - with the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds also eaten fresh or made into juice. Native to the humid lowland rainforest understory of South and Central America; Missouri Botanical Garden rates it full sun to part shade, gives a mature size of 6-9 m (20-30 ft) tall and wide, and notes it needs a sheltered frost-free position. Needs consistently warm conditions with a mean annual temperature of 18-28.5 C and suffers severe damage below about 10 C; annual rainfall of 1500-2000 mm suits it best though it tolerates a much wider range. Wants fertile moisture-retentive well-drained soil in the pH 5-6.5 range with a wider 4-8 tolerance reported. Propagated from fresh seed - viable only five to seven days after removal from the pod - sown shallow and germinating within seven to ten days without dormancy; air layering leaf-bud cuttings and grafting serve as alternatives for named selections.