Theobroma cocoa and chocolate. "Theobroma" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moths of the genus "Endoclita", including "E. chalybeatus", "E. damor", "E. hosei" and "E. sericeus". The larvae of another moth, "Hypercompe muzina", feed exclusively on "Theobroma cacao". An active ingredient of cacao, theobromine, is named for the genus. Theobroma Theobroma is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, that is sometimes classified as a member of Sterculiaceae. It contains roughly 20 species of small understory trees native to the tropical forests of Central and South America. The generic name is derived from
Theobroma cacao Amelonado, Criollo, Nacional, Contamana, Curaray, Cacao guiana, Iquitos, Marañon, Nanay, and Purús. The generic name is derived from the Greek for "food of the gods"; from θεός ("theos"), meaning "god", and βρῶμα ("broma"), meaning "food". The specific name "cacao" is the Hispanization of the name of the plant in indigenous Mesoamerican languages. The cacao was known as "kakaw" in Tzeltal, K'iche' and Classic Maya; "kagaw" in Sayula Popoluca; and "cacahuatl" in Nahuatl as "bean of the cocoa-tree". "T. cacao" is widely distributed from southeastern Mexico to the Amazon basin. There were originally two hypotheses about its domestication; one said that