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Cacao🌺
Theobroma cacao
カカオ
An evergreen tree in the mallow family. The genus name Theobroma means 'food of the gods' in Greek. Native to Central and South America, its seeds (cacao beans) are the raw material for chocolate and cocoa. Notable for cauliflory—flowers and fruit grow directly on the trunk.
Identification Points
- ✓Small flowers grow directly on trunk and main branches (cauliflory)
- ✓Fruit (cacao pod) is 20–30 cm, rugby-ball-shaped
- ✓Large, glossy, elliptic leaves
Habitat
Cultivated (tropical regions)
Season
Year-round (flowers, fruit, in tropics)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Elliptic
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Habitat
Cultivated
Phylogenetic Positionアオイ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Malvales > Malvaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous (ca. 80–90 million years ago)
Sources & References
📖Wikipedia 日本語版↗
🤖Claude AI生成（未確認）Wikipediaリードを根拠に生成。要確認。
AI-generated, needs verification