Abelmoschus esculentus (L - the University of Maine at Fort Kent

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
beverage by the Maya as early as 600 BC and the pulp surrounding
the seeds were used as early as 1000 BC in the region of what is
now Puerto Escondido, Honduras. Evidence of its pre-Columbian use
in the Southwestern U.S. has recently emerged.
NATURAL RANGE: Pre-Andean Amazonian Colombia and Ecuador, perhaps to
Peru and western Amazonian Brazil, spread throughout Amazonia and
the upper Orinoco basin, then diffused into Central America where
it may have been domesticated independently before European
contact
REFERENCES: Bergmann 1969, Bourke et al. 1987, Cavalcante 1991, Coe
and Coe 1996, Crown and Hurst 2009, Dreiss and Greenhill 2008,
Duke 1986, Duke and Vásquez 1994, Guia Rural n.d., Henderson et
al. 2007, Hopkins 1981, Hurst et al. 2002, Kermath (notes),
McNeil 2007, Mori and Prance 1990, Omawale 1973, OAS 1973, Powis
et al. 2007, Purselove 1968b, Schultes 1979a, Schultes 1984,
Silva et al. 1977, Stone 1984, Uphof 1968, West 1992
Theobroma canumanense Fróes ex Cuatrec.
FAMILY: Malvaceae (mallow), previously Sterculiaceae (chocolate)
PORTUGUESE: cupuaçu-do-mato, cupurana
USES/NOTES: Large, fuzzy, brown edible fruits are similar to,
though smaller than cupuaçu (T. grandiflorum).
NATURAL RANGE: Amazonia, perhaps Rondônia
REFERENCES: Cavalcante 1991
Theobroma glaucum Karsten
FAMILY: Malvaceae (mallow), previously Sterculiaceae (chocolate)
ENGLISH: cacao
SPANISH: cacao silvestre
USES/NOTES: Reported to be a good source of cocoa.
NATURAL RANGE: Neotropics
REFERENCES: Cuatrecasas 1964, Uphof 1968
Theobroma grandiflorum (Willd. ex Sprengel) Schumann [syn. T.
grandiflorum (G. Don f.) Schumann, T. macrantha Bernoulli,
Bubroma grandiflorum Willd. ex Sprengel, Guazuma grandiflora G.
Don f.]
FAMILY: Malvaceae (mallow), previously Sterculiaceae (chocolate)
ENGLISH: cupuassu, patashte
PORTUGUESE: cupu, cupuaçu, cupuaçu verdadeiro, cupuaçuzeiro, cupuaçu,
cupuí, pupuaçu
SPANISH: bacau, copoasu, copuasú, copoazú, copo-azú, cupuasú, cacao
blanco, mamaku kawcuai, pastate, patas
USES/NOTES: Cream-colored, fibrous, juicy pulp of the large, brown
oblong fruit has a sweet-acid flavor and is consumed as juice, in
ice cream, desserts, candies, preserves, and syrups. Fruit’s
extract is made into wine and liqueurs. Seeds contain caffeine
and are used to produce chocolate, or cupulate, similar to that
of cacao (T. cacao). Cultivated widely on a small scale in
Amazonia primarily for local and regional consumption. The
DRAFT - DO NOT DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE
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