| Theobroma cacao
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| Cacao fruits on the tree
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| Scientific classification
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| Kingdom:
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Plantae
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| Clade:
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Tracheophytes
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| Clade:
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Angiosperms
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| Clade:
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Eudicots
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| Clade:
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Rosids
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| Order:
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Malvales
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| Family:
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Malvaceae
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| Genus:
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Theobroma
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| Species:
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T. cacao
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| Binomial name
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Theobroma cacao
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| Synonyms
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- Cacao mina Gaertn.
- Cacao minus Gaertn.
- Cacao sativa Aubl.
- Cacao theobroma Tussac
- Theobroma cacao f. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Ducke
- Theobroma cacao subsp. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cuatrec.
- Theobroma cacao var. leiocarpum (Bernoulli) Cif.
- Theobroma cacao subsp. sativa (Aubl.) León
- Theobroma cacao var. typica Cif.
- Theobroma caribaea Sweet
- Theobroma integerrima Stokes
- Theobroma kalagua De Wild.
- Theobroma leiocarpum Bernoulli
- Theobroma pentagonum Bernoulli
- Theobroma saltzmanniana Bernoulli
- Theobroma sapidum Pittier
- Theobroma sativa (Aubl.) Lign. & Le Bey
- Theobroma sativa var. leucosperma A. Chev.
- Theobroma sativa var. melanosperma A. Chev.
- Theobroma sativum (Aubl.) Lign. & Bey
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Theobroma cacao (cacao tree or cocoa tree) is a small (6–12 m (20–39 ft) tall) evergreen tree in the Malvaceae family. Its seeds—cocoa beans—are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. Although the tree is native to the tropics of the Americas, the largest producer of cocoa beans in 2022 was Côte d'Ivoire.