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
Flora of Belize cleared, although clearing of mangroves near Belize's main coastal settlements (e.g. Belize City and San Pedro) was relatively high. The rate of loss of Belize's mangroves - at 0.07% per year between 1980 and 2010 - was much lower than Belize's overall rate of forest clearing (0.6% per year between 1980 and 2010). As well as logwood ("Haematoxylon campechianum") and mahogany ("Swietenia macrophylla") two other important Belizean timber trees of note are the Santa Maria ("Calophyllum antillanum") and cedar ("Cedrela mexicana"). Other economically important trees include cotton tree or kapok (Ceiba pentandra), and cacao (Theobroma cacao). Chicle (Manilkara chicle) is