Cacao botany, varieties and origins
This domain tests whether you can separate botanical fact from trade marketing: what Theobroma cacao actually is, how the Criollo/Forastero/Trinitario shorthand relates to modern genomic groupings, and why origin, genotype and flavour are three separate claims.
The plant
Cacao is Theobroma cacao (Malvaceae, formerly Sterculiaceae), diploid with 2n = 20. It is a small understorey tree, 4-8 m when cultivated and taller in the wild. Flowers and pods are cauliflorous - borne directly on the trunk and mature branches. Pods are 15-30 cm, ripen in about 5-6 months, and hold 20-60 seeds in sweet mucilaginous pulp. Most genotypes are self-incompatible and depend on tiny ceratopogonid midges for pollination, so only a small fraction of flowers set fruit.
Variety language
The classical three-way split is useful shorthand, not taxonomy. Criollo: thin, pointed pods, 20-30 pale cotyledons, delicate aroma, low yield. Forastero: thick pods, 30-45 purple cotyledons, vigorous, high yielding, bulk flavour. Trinitario: the Trinidad hybrid of the two, combining vigour with aroma. Motamayor's 2008 reclassification proposed ten genetic clusters, including Criollo, Amelonado, Nacional, Nanay, Iquitos, Maranon, Contamana, Curaray, Purus and Guiana. Nacional (Ecuador) is prized for floral and spicy notes.
Origin is not genotype
A country on the wrapper tells you where the beans grew, not which tree produced them. Most plantations are mixed populations, and single origin may blend many farms across a region.
Worked example. A supplier offers '100% Criollo' beans with thick pods, 42 purple seeds per pod and heavy yields. Criollo normally gives thin pointed pods, roughly 20-30 cream or white cotyledons and low yields, so the description fits Amelonado-type Forastero or a hybrid. Ask for genetic or morphological evidence and judge the flavour blind, not the label.
Traps. Treating Trinitario as a guarantee of quality; assuming Nacional always means aromatic (only part of the population carries the signature); confusing cacao and cocoa as different species; forgetting that pale cotyledons also occur outside Criollo.