Malvaceae
Cocoa tree
Theobroma cacao
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Genus
- Theobroma
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Common names
By language (106)
- Afrikaans
- Kakaoboom
- Arabic
- كاكاو, أشجار الكاكاو, اللوز الهندي, شجرة الكاكاو
- Armenian
- Կակաոյի ծառ
- arz
- كاكاو
- Asturian
- Cacáu
- Aymara
- Kakao, Cacao, Kakaw
- azb
- کاکائو آغاجی
- Azerbaijani
- Kakao ağacı
- ban
- Coklat
- Bangla
- কোকোয়া
- bar
- Gaugau
- Basque
- Kakao, Kakaua
- Belarusian
- Какава
- bik
- Kakaw
- Bosnian
- Kakaovac
- Bulgarian
- Какаово дърво
- Burmese
- ကကေးအိုပင်
- Cantonese
- 唂咕樹, 唂咕
- Catalan
- Cacau, Cacau ensucrat
- Cebuano
- Kakaw, Cacao, Cocoa, Kakao, Kakawo, Kokoa, Kokowa
- Chinese
- 可可树, 可可樹, 可可, 可可(可可树、柯柯豆、柯柯树), 黄背草, 柯柯树, 柯柯豆
- Croatian
- Kakaovac, Kakao
- Czech
- Kakaovník pravý, Kakaovník
- Danish
- Kakao, Kakaotræ, Ægte Kakaotræ
- Dutch
- Cacaoboom, Cacao
- English
- Cocoa tree, Cacao, Chocolate tree, Cocoa plant
- Estonian
- Harilik kakaopuu, Kakaopuu, Kakaouba
- Filipino
- Kakaw, T cacao, T. cacao
- Finnish
- Kaakaopuu
- French
- Cacaoyer, Cacaotier, Trinitario
- frr
- Kakaobuum
- Galician
- Cacao
- Georgian
- Კაკაო
- German
- Kakaobaum, Kakao
- Greek
- Κακαόδεντρο
- Guarani
- Kuvuasu
- Haitian Creole
- Kakawo
- Hausa
- Koko
- Hebrew
- קקאו
- hsb
- Prawy kakawowc
- Hungarian
- Kakaó, Kakaófa
- hyw
- Քաքաօ
- Icelandic
- Kakó
- Indonesian
- Kakao
- Interlingua
- Arbore de cacao
- Irish
- Crann cacó, Cacó, Crann cócó, Cócó
- Japanese
- カカオ, カカオ豆, ココアノキ, 加加阿
- Javanese
- Kakao
- Kazakh
- Какао
- kge
- Kopi Coklat
- ki
- Cocoa
- Korean
- 카카오, 카카오 나무, 카카오나무, 코코아나무
- Kurdish
- Kakao
- kus
- Kookoo
- Kyrgyz
- Какао
- lah
- کوکو رکھ
- Latin
- Cacao
- Latvian
- Kakaokoks, Kakao, Īstais kakaokoks
- Lingala
- Kaukau, Kakao
- Lithuanian
- Tikrasis kakavmedis
- Macedonian
- Какао, Какаово дрво
- Malagasy
- Kakao
- Malay
- Koko, Pokok Koko
- Malayalam
- കൊക്കോ
- Marathi
- कोको
- Mongolian
- Какао
- mwl
- Cacau
- nah
- Cacahuacuahuitl
- nan
- Chi-ku-la̍t-châng
- nap
- Cacavo
- nds
- Kakouboom
- Norwegian Bokmål
- Kakaotre, Kakaodyrking
- Norwegian Nynorsk
- Kakaotre, T. cacao
- Occitan
- Cacao, Cacau
- os
- Какао
- pam
- Kako
- pcd
- Caco
- Persian
- درخت کاکائو
- Polish
- Kakaowiec właściwy
- Portuguese
- Cacau, Cacaueiro
- Quechua
- Kakaw, Cacao, Cocoa, Kakawa, Kakawa k'aspi, Kakawa kaspi
- Romanian
- Arborele de cacao
- rup
- Cacauã
- Russian
- Какао, Cacao, Какао-дерево, Шоколадное дерево
- Serbian
- Какаовац
- Serbian (Latin)
- Kakaovac
- Slovak
- Kakaovník pravý
- Slovenian
- Kakav, Kakavovec
- smn
- Kaakaomuorâ
- Spanish
- Arbol de cacao, Especie de cacao, Fuente de cacao, La comida de los dioses
- Sundanese
- Kakao
- Swahili
- Mkakao
- Swedish
- Kakao
- Tamil
- கொக்கோ
- Tatar
- Какао агачы
- Thai
- โกโก้
- Tongan
- Koko
- Turkish
- Kakao, Kakao tanesi
- Ukrainian
- Какао
- Urdu
- کوکو درخت
- Uzbek
- Kakao
- Vietnamese
- Cacao, Ca cao, Ca-cao
- war
- Kakao
- wuu
- 可可树
- xmf
- Კაკაო
- Yiddish
- קאקאא בוים
Synonyms
- Cacao minar Gaertn.
- Cacao minus Gaertn.
- Cacao sativa Aubl.
- Cacao theobroma Tussac
- Theobroma cacao f. lacandonense Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao f. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Ducke
- Theobroma cacao f. pentagonum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao subsp. cacao
- Theobroma cacao subsp. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao subsp. pentagonum (Bernoulli) León
- Theobroma cacao subsp. sativa (Aubl.) León
- Theobroma cacao subsp. sphaerocarpum (A.Chev.) Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao var. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cif.
- Theobroma caribaeum Sweet
- Theobroma integerrimum Stokes
- Theobroma kalagua De Wild.
- Theobroma leiocarpum Bernoulli
- Theobroma minus (Gaertn.) A.Chev.
- Theobroma pentagonum Bernoulli
- Theobroma saltzmanniana Bernoulli
- Theobroma salzmanniana Bernoulli
- Theobroma sapidum Pittier
- Theobroma sativa (Aubl.) Lign. & Bey
- Theobroma sativa var. leucosperma A.Chev.
- Theobroma sativa var. melanosperma A.Chev.
- Theobroma sativum (Aubl.) Lign. & Bey
- Theobroma sativum var. leucospermum A.Chev.
- Theobroma sativum var. melanospermum A.Chev.
- Theobroma sphaerocarpum A.Chev.
Flowers
- In flower
- March to January (from 184 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Pacific Basin: introduced, Puerto Rico: introduced, U.S. Virgin Islands: introduced
Photos

FlowerPhoto: tonyblake, CC0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Ashley De Leon, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Emily Abrego, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FruitPhoto: ritirene, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: USAID Digital Development, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Rosa García, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Vincent ogiamien, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Nico, CC0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Rolf Buschmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF 
Photo: Cole Wolf, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Alopeus, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
More in Theobroma
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- TheobromaTheobroma bicolorMalvaceae
- Theobroma guianenseMalvaceae
- Theobroma speciosumMalvaceae
- Theobroma glaucumMalvaceae
- TheobromaTheobroma mammosumMalvaceae
- Theobroma obovatumMalvaceae
- TheobromaTheobroma angustifoliumMalvaceae
- TheobromaTheobroma simiarumMalvaceae
- Theobroma sylvestrisMalvaceae
- Theobroma velutinumMalvaceae
- Theobroma bernoulliiMalvaceae
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.