Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Theobroma cacao
cacao, árbol del cacao, cacaotero, cocoa, cacao tree, cocoa tree
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Malvales
Family
Malvaceae
Genus
Theobroma
Species
cacao
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Theobroma sphaerocarpum A. Chev.
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1985
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture
Introduced status: Human dependent
Invasive status: Unlikely to become invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
- Flores, E. (1985) Censo de Plantas Introducidas desde el Canal de Itabaca hasta Puerto Ayora. Tesis de Ingeniero Forestal, Univ. Técnica Luis Vargas Torres, Esmeraldas: 1-132.
- Chavez, J. (1993) Diagnostico de la Agricultura y la Ganader¡a en la Provincia de Galapagos. Tesis.
- Jørgensen, P.M. León-Yánez, S. (eds.) (1999) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, 1181 pp.
- Stevens, W.D. Ulloa, C., Pool, A., & Montiel, O.M. (2001) Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85: i–xlii, 1–2666.
- D'Arcy, W.G. (1987) Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 17(1): i–xxx, 1–328; 18(2): i–ix, 1–672.
- Linares, J.L. (2005) Listado comentado de los árboles nativos y cultivados en la república de El Salvador. Ceiba 44(2): 105–268.
- Jørgensen, P.M. Nee, M. & Beck, S. G. (2010) Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard.
- Cuatrecasas, J. (1964) Cacao and its allies: A taxonomic revision of the genus Theobroma. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 35(6): 379–614.
- Guézou, A. Trueman, M., Buddenhagen, E., Chamorro, S., Guerrero, A.M., Pozo, P., Atkinson, R. (2010) An extensive Alien Plan Inventory from the Inhabited Areas of Galapagos Plos One/ www.plosone.org. Volume 5/ Issue 4/e10276
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Theobroma cacao", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=793. Accessed 12 May 2025.