Cacao tree
கொக்கோകൊക്കോकोको
Theobroma cacao L.
- light
- Part sun
- water
- —
- tall
- 6.0 m
- wide
- 6.0 m
Malvaceae
Also called Cocoa tree, Cacao
Formerly Cacao minus, Theobroma integerrimum, Theobroma kalagua, Theobroma leiocarpum, and 5 more
When it flowers
Flowers May to December in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- TreeKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Costa Rica to S. Trop. AmericaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade (3 to 6 h)Read from RHS, one source
- Height
- 4.0 m to 8.0 mRead from RHS, one source
- Spread
- 4.0 m to 8.0 mRead from RHS, one source
- Flowers
- WhiteRead from RHS, one source
- Coldest it survives
- 15 °C (USDA zone 12b)Read from RHS, one source
Not known yet: water, heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
Artillery plantFlowers January to April, when this does not
Banana passionfruitFlowers January to April, when this does not
Bengal clock vineFlowers January to April, when this does not
Bitter MelonFlowers January to April, when this does not
Bleeding heart vineFlowers January to April, when this does not
Blue Trumpet VineFlowers January to April, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- root
- bi-zoya, cacaocuáhuitl, cacauatzaua
- Spanish
- Cacao
- Portuguese
- cacaueiro, Cacau, Cacau-verdadeiro
- Chinese
- 可可樹, 黄背草, 可可
- Finnish
- kaakaopuu
- Czech
- kakaovník pravý
- Japanese
- カカオ, カカオノキ, 加加阿
- Indonesian
- Kakao
- Estonian
- harilik kakaopuu
- German
- Kakaobaum
- Chinese (China)
- 可可树, 可可
- Italian
- Cacao
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, Public domain
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- 3D model: Theobroma cacao (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.