808 CONTRIBUTIONS FEOM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM, 



" They esteem it highly in this country, foolishly and for no good reason, for 

 it injures the hearts of those who are not accustomed to it, and there is a 

 froth on top of it which is very unpleasant if one is not accustomed to 

 it. * * * Those who are not accustomed to it from childhood care little 

 for it." Acosta, however, found little to praise in the New World. 



Cacao seeds contain 45 to 50 per cent of oil, or cacao butter, which is much 

 used in pharmacy for making ointments. They also contain an alkaloid, 

 theobromine. The oil was used by the inhabitants of Mexico for treating 

 wounds, and the beverage made from the seeds was considered beneficial to 

 the health. Oviedo reports a belief that if a person drank chocolate for 

 breakfast, tlie bite of a poisonous serpent would not be fatal to him. 



Cacao is illustrated and described at length by Hermindez.^ 



2. Theobroma angustifolium DC. Prodr. 1: 484. 1824. 



Chiapas and Tabasco, and perhaps elsewhere. Central America. 



Small tree with spreading crown, the bark smooth ; leaves oblong or oblong- 

 oblanceolate, 13 to 25 cm. long, abruptly acuminate, somewhat oblique at base, 

 green above, glabrous or nearly so, whitish beneath ; flowers yellow, borne 

 on the young branches, the clusters few-flowei'ed ; petals about 1 cm. long ; 

 fruit oval, dark chestnut or cinnamon-brown, smaller than in T. cacao. 

 " Cushta " (El Salvador); "cacao de mico," "cacao silvestre " (Costa Rica). 



This species is one of the important cacao plants of Mexico, and the notes 

 given above under T. cacao apply in large part to it also. In Chiapas Theo- 

 broma angustifolium is the species generally grown. The region of Soconusco 

 has long been famous for its chocolate, derived from this species, and for 

 many years the supply for the royal family of Spain was brought from 

 Soconusco. 



3. Theobroma bicolor Humb. & Bonpl. PI. Aequin. 1 : 104. pi. 30. 1808. 

 Theobroma ovatifoUa DC. Prodr. 1: 485. 1824. 



Tribroma bicolor Cook, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci. 5: 288. 1915. 



Chiapas and Tabasco, and perhaps elsewhere. Central America and north- 

 ern South America ; type from Colombia. 



Slender tree, the upright shoots each ending in a cluster of 3 lateral branches ; 

 leaves dimorphous, those of the upright shoots rounded-cordate, very large 

 (sometimes 50 cm. long), long-petiolate, deeply cordate at base; leaves of 

 lateral branches short-petiolate, oblong-ovate, 15 to 30 cm. long, ab- 

 ruptly short-pointed, shallowly cordate at base, green and nearly glabrous 

 above, whitish beneath ; flowers borne on the young branches, in loose panicles, 

 reddish purple ; fruit ellipsoid, about 15 cm. long, ribbed and irregularly netted, 

 dark, with a thick woody shell, the pulp white.' " Cacao bianco," " pataste " 

 (Chiapas) ; " patatle " (Tabasco) ; " pataxte " (Tabasco, Guatemala) ; " bacao " 

 (Colombia); "pataste," " pataiste," "cacao silvestre," " teta negra " (Costa 

 Rica). 



This plant is cultivated in some parts of tropical America, and the seeds are 

 used like those of T. cacao. Their product is variously known in commerce as 

 " tiger," " wariba," or " patashte " cacao. The seeds are used locally for the 

 preparation of sweetmeats. 



' Thesaurus 79-81. 1651. 



' For a full account of this species see O. F. Cook, Branching and flowering 

 habits of cacao and patashte, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 609-625. pi. U-54- 1916. 



