SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF PODS 19 



lings of Theobroma cacao make excellent stocks on which 

 Theobroma pentagona can readily be grafted, and it is 

 strongly suspected that the two species readily hybridise 

 one with the other, but this has not as yet been proved 

 by actual experiment. 



It is generally accepted that the principal supply of 

 commercial cacao is derived from two species, viz., Theo- 

 broma cacao and Theobroma pentagona, while Theobroma 

 bicolor and Theobroma angustifolia do not produce cacao of 

 commercial value. The evidence is not strong whether 

 any of the other species, Theobroma sylvestris, T. guianensis, 

 T. ovalifolia, T. speciosa, T. microcarpa, &c., can properly be 

 included as producing commercial cacao ; but if it is found 

 that they do, it is probable that a proper botanical study 

 of their characters will show their close affinity with our 

 well-known Theobroma cacao, or they may prove to be 

 merely varieties of that species hitherto included under 

 separate specific names, 



Wright, at page 30 of his second edition, says, speaking of 

 the varieties of Theobroma cacao, " The mixed nature of 

 the varieties now cultivated is manifest," a statement in 

 which the writer entirely concurs, having noted, as men- 

 tioned in previous pages and elsewhere, that the varieties 

 of Theobroma cacao now form " a heterogeneous mixture 

 of cross-bred varieties " from which a list of one hundred or 

 more varieties could easily be arranged, including all the 

 varieties with special names, and showing gradual passage 

 from one form to another. I have before me now a list 

 of thirty varieties as grown on the estate of a well-known 

 Trinidad planter. The differences between many of these 

 is so slight that, while recognisable to the sight, to describe 

 them in writing is an impossible task. 



Wright also refers to the work on the Sterculiacea 

 of Brazil by Schuman, who is said to have described 

 numerous species of Theobroma, including two not men- 

 tioned in our list, viz., T. grandiflorum and T. incanum. 



The variation in colour of the pods of Theobroma 

 cacao and its varieties is very wide, but colour is of little 



