Cocoa Tree
- needs shade and protection because of its frailty
- the pods are football shaped and are 6-12 inches long
- can live up to 100 years
- its pods grow directly on trunk or older larger branches
- its roots are shallow
- it grows to 15-25 feet
- 20-50 cacao beans in each pod
- it produces fruit (pods) in 4th or 5th year
- 400 beans needed for one pound of chocolate
- it needs high humidity – temperatures over 65 degrees and more than 80 inches yearly of rain
- farmers plant taller trees around cacao trees to provide shade and protection
- grows only within 15 degrees of the equator in the tropical counties of Africa, Asia, Central America and South America