IV 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS 43 



the Surinam cocoa plantations no tap-root can be 

 detected on trees of a certain age, and the side-roots 

 are all developed near the surface. 



The branches and leaves. The young plant makes 

 a little stem, which grows straight upwards till it has 

 attained a height of about 3 or 5 feet. The leaves on 

 the stem are arranged according to the formula . 



FIG. 6. A cocoa twig with four shoots. 



This means that if one looks at two leaves (called a 

 and 6) which are found vertically above each other, 

 and traces a spiral along the stem from leaf a to the 

 following leaf and so on till leaf 6, this spiral runs 

 three times all round the stem and passes 9 leaves 

 (inclusive of a and 6), so that if leaf a is No. 1, 

 leaf b is No. 9. The illustration will make this clear 

 (Fig. 4). 



The main branches and their side branches have 



