Theobroma cacao L.

Native to:

Brazil North, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

Introduced into:

Andaman Is., Belize, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Cameroon, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central American Pac, China South-Central, Comoros, Cook Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Laos, Leeward Is., Marianas, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicobar Is., Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Seychelles, Society Is., Sri Lanka, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Windward Is., Zaïre

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

• 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).

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

• Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Kew Species Profiles

• Coe, S. D. & Coe, M. D. (2007). The True Story of Chocolate. 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London.
• Coe, S. D. (1994). America’s First Cuisines. University of Texas Press, Austin.
• Foster, N. & Cordell, L. S. (eds) (1996). Chillies to Chocolate. The Food the Americas Gave the World. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
• Schultes, R. E. & Raffauf, R. F. (1990). The Healing Forest. Dioscorides Press, Portland, Oregon.
• Simpson, B. B. & Ogorzaly, M. C. (2001). Economic Botany. Plants in Our World. 3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York.
• Smart, J. & Simmonds, N. W. (1995). The Evolution of Crop Plants. 2nd Edition. Longman Group UK Ltd., Harlow.
• Young, A. M. (2007). The Chocolate Tree: Natural History of Cacao. Florida University Press, Gainsville.
  
  

Kew Backbone Distributions

• 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.
• Boggan, J. Funck, V. & Kelloff, C. (1997). Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Surinam, Franch Guiana) ed. 2: 1-238. University of Guyana, Georgetown.
• Castle, G.E. (1994). Flore des Seychelles Dicotylédones: 1-663. Orstom Editions.
• 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.
• Forzza, R.C., Zappi, D. & Souza, V.C. (2016-continuously updated). Flora do Brasil 2020 em construção http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/listaBrasil/ConsultaPublicaUC/ResultadoDaConsultaNovaConsulta.do.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2007). Flora of China 12: 1-534. Science Press (Beijing) & Missouri Botanical Garden Press (St. Louis).

Flora of Tropical East Africa

• F.C.B. 10: 211 (1963)
• Fl. Eth. 2(2): 165 (1995)
• I.T.U.: 68 (1953)
• Sp. Pl. 782 (1753)
• T.T.C.L.: 604 (1949)
• U.O.P.Z.: 467, fig. (1949)

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

• Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
• Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
• Cámara-Leret, R., & Dennehy, Z. (2019). Information gaps in indigenous and local knowledge for science-policy assessments. Nature Sustainability 2:736-741.
• Dempewolf, H., Eastwood, R. J., Guarino, L., Khoury, C. K., Müller, J. V. & Toll, J. (2014). Adapting agriculture to climate change: a global initiative to collect, conserve, and use crop wild relatives. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 38, 369-377.
• Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
• Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
• FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
• GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
• GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
• García Castro, N. J. (2011). Plantas nativas empleadas en alimentación en Colombia. Instituo de Investigaciones Biológicas Alexander von Humboldt. http://repository.humboldt.org.co/handle/20.500.11761/31275
• Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
• Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2019). Lista de especies vedadas por la resolución 213 de 1977. 8256 especies. http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_plantaspriorizadas_2019
• Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
• PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
• RBG, Kew (2021). Kew Economic Botany Collection. https://ecbot.science.kew.org/
• Ulian, T., Sacandé, M., Hudson, A., & Mattana, E. (2017). Conservation of indigenous plants to support community livelihoods: the MGU–Useful Plants Project. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 60:668-683.
• Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.