portant plant is the Cocoa Tree
(_Theobroma Cacao_). It is a low tree with short-stalked,
firm, brittle, simple leaves of large size, oval shape, and
dark green colour. The young leaves are of a bright red
colour, and, as in many tropical trees, hang limply
downwards. The flowers are borne on the main stem or the
older branches, and arise from dormant axillary buds
(Cauliflory). Each petal is bulged up at the base, narrows
considerably above this, and ends in an expanded tip. The
form of the reddish flowers is thus somewhat urn-shaped with
five radiating points. The pentalocular ovary has numerous
ovules in each loculus. As the fruit develops, the soft
tissue of the septa extends between the single seeds; the
ripe fruit is thus unilocular and many-seeded. The seed-coat
is filled by the embryo, which has two large, folded, brittle
cotyledons."

The last sentence conveys an erroneous impression. The two cotyledons,
which form the seed, are not brittle when found in nature in the pod.
They are juicy and fleshy. And it is only after the seed has received
special treatment (fermentation and drying) to obtain the bean of
commerce, that it becomes brittle.

_Varieties of Theobroma Cacao._

As mentioned above, the pods and seeds of Theobroma Cacao trees show a
marked variation, and in every country the botanist has studied these
variations and classified the trees according to the shape and colour of
the pods and seeds. The existence of so many classifications has led to
a good deal of confusion, and we are indebted to Van Hall for the
simplest way of clearing up these difficulties. He accepts the
classification first given by Morris, dividing the trees into two
varieties--Criollo and Forastero:

[Illustration: DRAWINGS OF TYPICAL PODS, illustrating varieties.
CRIOLLO
FORASTERO
FORASTERO (CALABACILLO VARIETY)]

_Extremes of Characteristics._

_Criollo._ _Forastero._

(Old Red, Caracas, etc.) Grading from Cundeamor
(bottle-necked) to Calabacillo
(smooth).

_Pod walls._ Thin and warty. Thick and woody.

_Beans._ Large and plump. Small and flat.
White. Heliotrope to purple.
Sweet. Astringent.

The cacao of the criollo variety has pods the walls of which are thin
and warty, with ten distinct f