Theobroma cacao priests lancing their ear lobes (autosacrifice) and covering the cacao with blood as a suitable sacrifice to the gods. The cacao beverage as ritual was used only by men, as it was believed to be toxic for women and children. The first European knowledge about chocolate came in the form of a beverage which was first introduced to the Spanish at their meeting with Moctezuma in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1519. Cortés and others noted the vast quantities of this beverage the Aztec emperor consumed, and how it was carefully whipped by his attendants beforehand. Examples of cacao
Witch's broom Witch's broom Witch's broom or witches' broom is a deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, where the natural structure of the plant is changed. A dense mass of shoots grows from a single point, with the resulting structure resembling a broom or a bird's nest. It is sometimes caused by pathogens. Witch-broom disease caused by phytoplasmas is economically important in a number of crop plants, including the cocoa tree "Theobroma cacao", jujube ("Ziziphus jujuba") and the timber tree "Melia azedarach". Witch's broom can be caused by cytokinin, a phytohormone, interfering with an auxin-regulated bud. In normal plant function,