Theobroma cacao Theobroma cacao Theobroma cacao, also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae, native to the deep tropical regions of the Americas. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, confectionery, ganache and chocolate. Leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, long and broad. The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; this is known as cauliflory. The flowers are small, diameter, with pink calyx. The floral formula is ✶ K5 C5 A(5°+5²) (5). While many of the world's flowers are pollinated
Cacao necrosis virus translucent veinal necrosis of leaves, necrotic or chlorotic spots of leaves, defoliation, and dieback of shoots that rarely leads to seedling death if infected by the Ghanaian isolate. A following recovery phase of live plants shows limited leaf symptoms. The virus has been transmitted to numerous diagnostically susceptible host species including "Beta vulgaris", "Chenopodium amaranticolor", "Chenopodium quinoa", "Cucumis sativus", "Glycine max", "Gomphrena globosa", "Nicotiana clevelandii", "Nicotiana glutinosa", "Nicotiana tabacum", "Petunia × hybrida", "Phaseolus vulgaris", "Tetragonia tetragonioides", "Theobroma cacao", and "Vigna unguiculata", but these plants are not infected in nature. The strain used to infect these species was the Ghanian isolate.