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(Last Modified On 1/29/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/29/2013)
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Species
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THEOBROMA BICOLOR Humb. & Bonpl.
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PlaceOfPublication
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P1. Aequin. 1: 104, pl. 30. 1806
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Reference
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Cua- trecasas, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 35: 458, figs. 2, 5, 9, 12, 18, 35, map 3. 1964.
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Synonym
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Theobroma ovatifolia Mog. & Sesse ex DC., Prodr. 1: 485. 1824; Icon. Fl. Mex. ex DC. pI. 113. Cacao bicolor (Humb. & Bonpl.) Poir. in Lam., Encycl. Meth. Bot. Suppl. 2: 7. 1811. Tribroma bicolor (Humb. & Bonpl.) Cook, Jour. Wash. Acad. Sci. 5: 288. 1915.
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Description
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Tree usually 3-8 m. tall, up to 25-30 m. in high forest, with rather narrow crown; growth below jorquette; trunk erect with light bark and white wood; pri- mary branches ternate, dichotomous, spreading, horizontal or pendulous, subterete, densely and appressed-cinereous-tomentose with minute, stellate hairs; older branches glabrate, smooth, gray; stipules oblong-lanceolate, minutely appressed- tomentose, more or less persistent. Leaves with a petiole rather thick, subterete, 12- 25 mm. long, minutely appressed-tomentose; blade oblong-ovate or elliptic-ovate, cordate or emarginate, asymmetrical at base, attenuate, abruptly acuminate at apex, entire or rarely sinuate at the upper margin, 12-34 cm. long and 6-18 cm. broad, the acumen triangular and 6-12 mm. long, firmly chartaceous, subpalmatinerved; upper surface green, glabrous or with scattered hairs, the main nerves noticeable, the lesser slightly conspicuous; lower surface silvery-greenish or cinereous, covered with a dense layer of intricate, stellate hairs, 5- to 7-nerved at base, the thicker costa and 2 or 3 main nerves on each side strongly prominent; leaves on primary stem and chupons larger, symmetrical, deeply cordate, 30-50 cm. long and 21-36 cm. broad, with a petiole 10-38 cm. long. Inflorescences axillary or extra-axillary on leafy, juvenile branchlets, usually 3-6 cm. broad, with short axis and divaricate, dichasial and cincinnate branching, densely ochraceous- or cinereous-tomentose; pedicels 3-6 mm. long; bracteoles 1.5-2.5 mm. long, densely and minutely tomen- tose; buds oblong-ovate, subacute, minutely cinereous- or ochraceous-tomentose. Flowers with spreading, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate sepals, these shortly connate at base, acute at apex, 5-6 mm. long and 2-2.5 mm. broad, subappressed-stellate- tomentose and reddish outside, 3-nerved and sparsely pilose inside; petal-hoods oblong-obovate, rounded-cucullate with incurved apex, 2-2.5 mm. long and 1-1.2 mm. broad, submembranaceous, whitish-rosy or reddish with a darker midrib, hir- tellous-pubescent with a depressed, tomentellous midrib outside, glabrous with a thick, trifurcate midrib inside; petal-laminae ovate, abruptly contracted at base in a short nail, rounded at apex, 1-1.2 mm. long and 0.8 mm. broad, carnose, red, brownish-red or purplish, hirtellous-pubescent; staminodes linear-oblong, slightly narrowed at base, obtuse or subacute at apex, 3.5-4.5 mm. long and 0.6-0.8 mm. wide, carnose, brownish-red, covered with minute, thickish, patulous hairs; filaments about 1-1.5 mm. long, glabrous, 2-antheriferous; ovary velutinous-tomentose; styles united, rigid, whitish. Fruit subglobose-ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid, 15-20 (10-25) cm. long and 9-12(-15) cm. broad, green, when ripe yellow or brownish; pericarp hard, woody, 7-15 mm. thick, densely stellate-pilose, strongly 10-costate, the deep furrows reticulate, deeply lacunose; pulp fibrose, yellowish, sweet, scented; seeds complanate, ovoid-amygdaliform, 16-30 mm. long, 14-23 mm. wide and 8-13 mm. thick; embryo white; germination epigeous.
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Habit
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Tree
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Distribution
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Theobroma bicolor probably originated in Central America. It is found in cul- tivation, in limited extension, throughout tropical America.
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Note
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It is a very distinctive species, easy to recognize by its small, lax, horizontal crown, by its large, papery, cinereous, pendulous leaves and by the thick, woody, carved shell of its ellipsoid fruits. These remain green until ripening, when they change the color into yellow or brownish, falling from the tree. The common name in Panama is pataste; in Darien, the Choko Indians call it cu-lu-hu, according to Allen 4539. The seeds are locally used like those of cacao, giving a chocolate of inferior quality. Although the pulp does not have a very attractive flavor, it is sucked by the natives and used in the preparation of refreshments.
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Common
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pataste cu-lu-hu
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Specimen
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BOCAS DEL TORO: Laguna de Chiriqui and its neighborhood, Pope's Island, Hart 158 (US). CANAL ZONE: Cafio Quebrado, Pittier 6883 (GH, NY, US). DARIEN: headwaters of Rio Chica, 500-750 ft., cultivated by Choko Indians, Allen 4539 (G, MO, NY).
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