Cocoa Bean Tree

Theobroma cacao, the Cocoa Bean Tree is a tropical plant native to South America, though it is now also extensively grown in Central America, West Africa, India, the South Pacific and other tropical regions. It is a plant that needs a hot and wet environment to flourish and prefers a protected part-shade position for the first few years.

The tiny pinkish flowers appear in cauliflorous clusters at former leaf axils that in previous seasons sprouted leaves. The flowers are rather short-lived, lasting only for a day and their fertility lasts only from sunrise to sunset of that day. The seeds are the most valuable part of the plant as they provide the source material for Cocoa powder, or what is eventually to become chocolate. Mature trees start to produce fruit after about five years.

After the beans are removed from the pod, they are left to ferment for 7 days. Fermentation kills the seeds and enhances the development of the chocolate flavour.

In New Zealand, there are in fact plenty of Cacao trees growing in various sub-tropical gardens around the warmer spots of the upper North Island, but if you want them to fruit (so you can harvest the seeds) you're best off keeping them in the warmth of a greenhouse.