The Theobroma cacao tree is native to the American tropical rainforest, originating in clumps along the riverbanks in the Amazon basin on the eastern equatorial slopes of the Andes. The plant has evolved to utilize the shade of the heavy canopy from the rainforest. It can grow up to fifteen meters, but the harvesting crops are trimmed down to six meters, so that they are easier to maintain and harvest. They trees can live for up to one hundred years, but the cultivated trees are only economically productive for sixty of those years. The trunk or Chupon is where the budding fruit and leaves are found. The leaves are a fan shape and are smooth in texture with bright green pigments. …
