DIMORPHIC BRANCHES OF CACAO, 39 



trunk of the cacao tree produces flowers and fruit in the same way 

 as the branches. In other words, cacao is cauliflorous. 



The two kinds of vegetatiA e branches can be distinguished readily 

 by their position and also by the fact that they bear different kinds 

 of leaves. The trunk elongates by a succession of upright shoots, 

 each of which is terminated by a cluster or whorl of branches (fig. 

 7). (See PL VI.) The main stem and the upright branches have 

 leaves with distinctly longer petioles than those of the lateral 

 branches. The petioles of the leaves of the uprights are often 3 

 inches long, while those of the whorl leaves are less than an inch. 

 (See PL VII, fig. 1.) 



In the patashte tree {Theohroma hicolor), a relative of the cacao 

 that is being introduced into cultivation in Guatemala, the specializa- 

 tion of the leaves of the two types of branches is carried still farther. 

 The leaves of the main trunk and the upright limbs have petioles 

 8 or 10 inches in length, while the leaves of the secondarv or lateral 

 branches have petioles only about 1 inch long, as in the cacao. The 

 blades of the two kinds of leaves of the patashte are also very differ- 

 ent in size, shape, and texture, instead of being nearly alike as in the 

 cacao." 



When a cacao seedling has grown a simple straight stem to a 

 height of 2 to 4 feet, the single terminal bud gives place to a cluster 

 or circle of three to six small buds, from which arises a whorl of as 

 many branches. (See PL VI.) These branches soon diverge in a 

 horizontal or oblique direction, but curve upward toward the end. 

 In the petashte tree the number of branches in each whorl is always 

 three, but in the cacao there are usually four, often five, and occa- 

 sionally six. The whorled branches do not continue the upward 

 growth of the main stem or trunk of the tree, but a new shoot for 

 this purpose appears, in due time, on the side of the trunk, often an 

 inch or more below the terminal whorl of branches. This lateral 

 shoot curves upward and passes between two of the whorled branches 

 into a vertical position, grows a few feet upward, and divides into 

 another whorl of branches. Later on these upright sections seem to 

 straighten more and more until the clusters of branches, which had 

 previously terminated the trunk at its different stages of growth, are 

 pushed over to the side, as though they were lateral clusters. 



"The patashte tree also differs from the cacao in not behig cauliflorous. The 

 short inflorescence branches do not ris** fi-om the old wood of the main trunk 

 and larger basal branches, but are confined to the axils of new leaves near the 

 slender growing ends of the branches. The patashte is a much taller tree and 

 grows much more rapidly than the cacao. It is usually from 12 to 20 feet 

 high before it begins to l)ran('h, instead of branching within H or 4 feet of 

 the ground, as the cacao u.sually dues. 

 198 



