Tropical New World tree ( Theobroma cacao ) of the chocolate family (Sterculiaceae, or Byttneriaceae).
Its seeds, after fermentation and roasting, yield cocoa and chocolate . Cocoa butter is extracted from the seed. The tree is grown throughout the wet lowland tropics, often in the shade of taller trees. Its thick trunk supports a canopy of large, leathery, oblong leaves. The small, foul-smelling, pinkish flowers are borne directly on the branches and trunk; they are followed by the fruit, or pods, each yielding 20–40 seeds, or cocoa beans.