USDA ARS United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area

Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN)

  GRIN Taxonomy for Plants
Jump to common names  Jump to economic impacts  Jump to distribution  Jump to references  Jump to synonyms  Jump to links to other online resources  Jump to images

***Please tell us why you value GRIN Taxonomy***

Taxon: Theobroma cacao L.

Genus: Theobroma
Family: Malvaceae subfamily: Byttnerioideae tribe: Theobromateae. Also placed in: Sterculiaceae
Nomen number: 101885
Place of publication: Sp. pl. 2:782. 1753
Typification: View record from Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project of the Natural History Museum of London.
Name verified on: 07-Nov-1985 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 19-Nov-1996
Species priority site is: Natl. Germplasm Repository - Miami (MIA).
Accessions: 313 in National Plant Germplasm System.
  • all available ) NPGS accessions. or .
  • all available ) NPGS accessions by country.
  • Check PlantSearch database of Botanic Gardens Conservation International for possible non-NPGS germplasm.


See also subordinate taxa:


Common names:

  • cacao   (Source: CRC MedHerbs ed2 ) – English
  • cocoa   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 16:113) – English
  • cacaoyer   (Source: Pl Res SEAs 16:113) – French
  • echter Kakaobaum   (Source: Zander Ency ) – German
  • Kakaopflanze   (Source: S. Reichel, p.c.) – German
  • cacaoeiro   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  • cacau   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  • árbol del cacao   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  • cacaotero   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  • calabacillo   (Source: Contr USNH) – Spanish
  • forastero   (Source: Contr USNH) – Spanish
  • kakao   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
More:

Economic importance:

More:

Distributional range:

      Native:
  • NORTHERN AMERICA
    Southern Mexico: Mexico - Chiapas [s.], Tabasco
  • SOUTHERN AMERICA
    Mesoamerica: Belize; Guatemala
    Northern South America: French Guiana; Guyana; Suriname
    Brazil: Brazil - Amazonas
    Western South America: Colombia; Peru - Loreto

      Cultivated:
  • widely cultivated

References:

  • Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
  • Argout, X. et al. 2010. The genome of Theobroma cacao. Nat. Genet. 43:101–109.
  • Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java.
  • Bartley, B. G. D. 2005. The genetic deversity of cacao and its utilization. 341 pp.
  • Cuatrecasas, J. 1964. Cacao and its allies: a taxonomic revision of the genus Theobroma. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35:495.
  • Dorr, L. J. 2011. Review of Malvaceae sensu lato data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
  • Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
  • Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage.
  • Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen.
  • Facciola, S. 1990. Cornucopia, a source book of edible plants.
  • Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23, 1988)
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  • Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
  • IPGRI. New World Fruits Database (on-line resource).
  • Jardín Botánico Nacional. 1998–. Flora de la República de Cuba.
  • Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. [accepts].
  • Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
  • Macbride, J. F. et al., eds. 1936–1971. Flora of Peru.; new ser. 1980-
  • McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
  • McVaugh, R. 1983–. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
  • Motamayor, J. C. et al. 2002. Cacao domestication I: the origin of the cacao cultivated by the Mayas. Heredity 89:380–386.
  • Motamayor, J. C. et al. 2008. Geographic and genetic population differentiation of the Amazonian chocolate tree (Theobroma cacao L.). PLoS One 3:e3311.
  • Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  • Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. [accepts].
  • Reichel, S. 1998. pers. comm. [re. German common names].
  • Royen, P. van et al. 1964–1970. Manual of the forest trees of Papua and New Guinea.
  • Silva S., C. R. & A. Figueira. 2005. Phylogenetic analysis of Theobroma (Sterculiaceae) based on Kunitz-like trypsin inhibitor sequences. Pl. Syst. Evol. 250:93–104.
  • Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946–1976. Flora of Guatemala.
  • Thomas, E. et al. 2012. Present spatial diversity patterns of Theobroma cacao L. in the Neotropics reflect genetic differentiation in Pleistocene refugia followed by human-influenced dispersal. PLoS One 7(10):e47676. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047676.
  • Vossen, H. A. M. van der & M. Wessel, eds. 2000. Stimulants. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 16:113.
  • Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). A:265.
  • Whitlock, B. A. & D. A. Baum. 1999. Phylogenetic relationships of Theobroma and Herrania (Sterculiaceae) based on sequences of the nuclear gene Vicilin. Syst. Bot. 24:128–138.
  • Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943–1980. Flora of Panama.
More:

Synonyms:


Check other web resources for Theobroma cacao L.:

  • New World Fruits Database: Online database from Bioversity International
  • TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
  • Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
  • ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
  • Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

More:
  • Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
  • Google Images Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

| USDA | ARS | GRIN | NPGS | New Search |

Cite as:
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program.
Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database].
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?101885 (19 May 2013)

Please send us your comments

Close Window

Ctrl P to print