STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 806 



DOUBTFUL SPECIES. 



Melochia corymbosa (DC.) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 1: 130. 1879. 

 Riedlea corymhosa DC. Pi-odr. 1: 491. 1824. Described from Mexico. 



Mexochia scutellarioides (Turcz.) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer, Bot. 1: 131. 

 1879. Riedlea scutellarioides Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31*: 210. 1858. 

 Type from Mirador, Veracruz. 



Melochia tenella (Turcz.) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 1: 132. 1879. 

 Riedlea tenella Turcz. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 31*: 212. 1S5S. Type from Sierra 

 San Pedro Nolasco, Oaxaca. Probably a synonym of Hf. hirsuta. 



9. THEOBBOMA L. Sp. PI. 782. 1753. 



Trees; leaves large, entire, pinnate-nerved, or 3 or 5-nerved at base; flowers 

 small, in axillary or lateral clusters, often along the tnmk ; calyx 5-lobate ; 

 petals 5. clawed, cueuUate at base, produced above into a spatulate blade; 

 calyx tube 5-lobate, the anthers 2 or 3 in each sinus ; fruit large, sessile, fleshy, 

 5-celled, the seeds surrounded by pulp. 



Leaves green beneath, glabi'ous or nearly so 1. T. cacao. 



Leaves minutely whitish-tomentulose beneath. 



Leaves obtuse at base ; petals longer than the calyx 2. T. angnstif olium. 



Leaves deeply or shallowly cordate at base; petals shorter than the calyx. 



3. T. bicolor. 

 1. Theobroma cacao L. Sp. PI. 782. 1753. 



In forests from Colima to Chiapas and Tabasco, and cultivated extensively 

 in the warmer parts of Mexico. Central America ; cultivated in the Tropics 

 of both hemispheres. 



Small evergreen tree, 6 to 8 meters high, or sometimes larger, with spreading 

 branches, the lateral branches in clusters of 5, rarely 4 or 6, the young shoots 

 hirsute or hirtellous ; leaves short-petiolate, elliptic-oblong or obovate-oblong, 

 15 to 30 cm. long, roimded or obtuse at base, abruptly acuminate at apex, 

 thick ; inflorescences small, fleshy, borne along the trunk and main branches ; 

 flowers long-pedicellate, the calyx pink, its lobes lance-acuminate, 6 to 7 mm. 

 long; petals yellowish; fruit 30 cm. long and 10 cm. thick or smaller, 

 elliptic-ovoid, Avith a thick fleshy rind, longitudinally ridged and furrowed, red, 

 yellow, purplish, or brown, each cell containing 5 to 12 large, brown or purple 

 seeds embedded in white or pinkish, acid pulp. 



The word " cacao " is the name of the plant and of the crude product from it. 

 Cocoa and chocolate are manufactured products obtained from the seeds. 

 The word " cacao " is derived from the Nahuatl " cacahuatl " (written also caca- 

 hoatl), a term which in modern Mexican has been corrupteil into " cacahuate," 

 the name applied to the peanut, the application evidently because of the 

 resemblance of the peanut to cacao fruit. Tlie Nahuatl name for the cacao 

 tree is " cacahuacuahuitl," which has l)een written al.so as " cacaotlquahuitl," 

 " cacauquauitl," and in various other ways. The following additional names 

 are reported from Mexico: " Bizoya," "yagabizoya " (Oaxaca, Zapotec, Reko) ; 

 " deqhy " (Otomf, Buelna) ; " caocauatzaua " (Zoque, Gonzales); " kako " 

 (Mixe) ; " cahequa " (Tarascan, Ledn) ; " chudechu " (Otomi). 



Of all the numerous vegetable productions of the New World, and especially 

 of Mexico, none is more celebrated than the product of the cacao plant, which 

 attained high favor in Europe immediately after the Conquest. Oviedo, who 

 describes the plant at great length, states that it was not found in the West 

 Indies, but only on the continent, especially in Mexico, and he terms it " the 

 most precious tree of the Indians and the most highly esteemed." 



