Theobroma cacao beans, along with other agricultural products, were brought back to Spain at that time, but it seems the beverage made from cacao was introduced to the Spanish court in 1544 by Kekchi Maya nobles brought from the New World to Spain by Dominican friars to meet Prince Philip. Within a century, chocolate had spread to France, England and elsewhere in Western Europe. Demand for this beverage led the French to establish cacao plantations in the Caribbean, while Spain subsequently developed their cacao plantations in their Venezuelan and Philippine colonies (Bloom 1998, Coe 1996). A painting by Dutch Golden Age artist
Orto Botanico di Parma umbellatus", "Caltha palustris", "Cyperus papyrus", "Eichhornia crassipes", "Elodea canadensis", "Iris pseudacorus", "Lemna minor", "Nymphaea alba", "Pistia stratiotes", and "Sagittaria sagittaefolia", as well as mature trees including ginkgo, magnolia, "Pinus nigra subsp. laricio", and "Ulmus campestris". Its glass houses contain a tropical section with "Dracaena fragrans", "Ficus elastica", "F. benjamina", "Monstera deliciosa", "Tamarindus indica", "Theobroma cacao", etc., as well as epiphytes, orchids, and tropical fruits; and a desert house containing a variety of cacti and succulents. Orto Botanico di Parma The Orto Botanico di Parma, also known as the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Parma, is a botanical garden maintained by the