96 



This plant has been determined as being one of the ingredients 

 of the "Agbo" pot, of the Lagos Hinterland (see Xylopia 

 aethiopica). In Surinam it is employed as a febrifuge (Moloney, 

 For. W. Africa, p. 287). The natives of Hawaii use the 

 pounded leaves for filling the seams and cracks of their canoes 

 (Sinclair, I.e.). 



THEOBROMA, Linn. 



Theobroma Cacao, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 1 (1753), p. 782. 



A tree of medium size, 20 feet and upwards, branching tricho- 

 tomously at or near the base ; branches cylindric, bark smooth 

 greyish or greyish-brown. Leaves alternate, entire, 8-9 inches long, 

 2^-3 in. broad, sometimes larger, ovate-lanceolate, or ovate-oblong, 

 acute, somewhat rounded at the base ; veins prominent beneath ; 

 petiole 1 inch or so long, thickened at both ends ; stipules subulate- 

 linear, acutely serrate. Flowers pale pink arising in clusters, or 

 sometimes solitary, from the trunk and old wood of the branches, 

 on slender, short pedicels. Fruit 5-celled, pendulous, solitary or 

 grouped in twos or threes, corrugated, the furrows shallow, ridges 

 blunt, usually numbering about 10, surface somewhat uneven, 

 ovoid, oblate at the base, elongated towards the apex, major axis 

 6-7 inches, and the minor axis 3-4 inches ; pericarp thick and 

 firm, at first green, changing to yellow, and finally to red or 

 purple. Seeds embedded in a sweet mucilaginous pulp, numerous, 

 approximately 50 to 100 in each fruit according to the variety, 

 slightly larger than almonds. 



III.— Plenck, Ic. t. 578 ; Lam. Encycl. t. 635 ; Lodd. Bot. Cab. 

 t. 545 ; Hayne, Darst. Beschr. Gewasche, ix. t. 35 ; Guimpel, 

 Abbild. Beschr. t. 75 : Desc. Ant. iv. t. 266 ; Nees von Esenbeck, 

 Plant. Medic. Diisseld. t. 419 ; Wagner, Pharm. Medic. Bot. t. 227 ; 

 Spach, Suites, t. 25 ; Mitscherlich, Cacao, tt. 1, 2 ; Berg. & Schmidt, 

 Darst. & Beschr. Pharm. tt. 33e, 33f ; Nooten, Fl. Java, 1. 1, t. 40 (var. 

 alba) ; Bernouilli, Theobroma, tt. 1, 2 ; Bentl. & Trimen, Med. PI. 

 t. 38 (drawn from specimen flowered in the Royal Botanic Gardens. 

 Kew ; fruit from a specimen in the British Museum) ; Zippel, 

 Ausl. Handels. Niihrpflan. t. 3 ; Baillon, Diet. Bot. t. 30 ; Kohler, 

 Med. Pflan. ii. tt. 157 i., 157 ii. ; Sem. Hort. 1897, p. 317, f. 122 

 (tree in fruit) ; Preuss, Expedit. C«nt. und Siidamer. tt. 1, 2 (fruits, 

 various forms) ; De Wildeman, PI. Util. Congo, tt. 16-19 ; Gard. 

 Chron. Aug. 15th, 1903, p. 115 ; Dec. 17th, 1904, p. 429 (fruit) 

 Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. xxviii. 1903, Proc. p. 44 (tree bearing fruit, 

 grown at Norfolk House, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood) ; Tropenpfl. 

 1904, tt. 9-12 ; Karst. & Schenck, Veg. bild. i. t. 14 ; L'Agric. prat, 

 pays chauds, v. pp. 269-277 ; Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. ix. t. 67. 



Cocoa or Cacao ; Chocolate. 



Native of Tropical America ; cultivated in Nigeria, and in many 

 other Tropical countries. 



The chief source of Commercial Cocoa may be attributed to this 

 species and its varieties " Criollo " and " Forastero" 



Other sources, but to a smaller extent, are Theobroma bicolor, 

 and Theobroma pentagona. 



