CHOCOLATE TREEThe Chocolate Tree chronicles the natural and cultural history of Theobroma cacao and explores its ecological niche. Tracing cacao's "journey" out of the rain forest, into pre-Columbian gardens, and then onto plantations adjacent to rain forests, Allen M. Young describes the production of this essential crop, explaining how the seeds are extracted from the large, colorful pods. He details the environmental price of Europeanized cultivation, and ways that current reclamation efforts for New World rain forests can improve the natural ecology of the cacao tree. Recounting more than a dozen years of ecological fieldwork in and around cacao plantations in Costa Rica, Young reviews his research into the problem of poor levels of natural pollination on plantations. He recalls encounters with sloths, toucans, butterflies, giant tarantula hawk wasps, and other creatures found in cacao groves. Among these creatures Young discovered a tiny fly that provides a vital link between the chocolate tree and its original rain forest habitat. This discovery leads him to conclude that cacao trees in cultivation today may have lost their original insect pollinators due to the plants' long history of agricultural manipulation. |
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Page 14
... Central America is a mystery . Somehow , thousands of years ago , a population of T. cacao had spread throughout the central part of Amazonia , westward into Guiana , and northward through Central America to the southern portion of ...
... Central America is a mystery . Somehow , thousands of years ago , a population of T. cacao had spread throughout the central part of Amazonia , westward into Guiana , and northward through Central America to the southern portion of ...
Page 16
... America only with the arrival of the Spaniards , who introduced cacao plantations into Venezuela from their observations of cacao farming in Central America and Mexico . It is interesting to note that cacao plan- tations had already ...
... America only with the arrival of the Spaniards , who introduced cacao plantations into Venezuela from their observations of cacao farming in Central America and Mexico . It is interesting to note that cacao plan- tations had already ...
Page 33
... Central America new commodities from Europe , including glass - bead necklaces and bracelets , brass needles , pins , silver jewelry , olive jars , locks , and nails . These items entered the region as cacao beans and other agricultural ...
... Central America new commodities from Europe , including glass - bead necklaces and bracelets , brass needles , pins , silver jewelry , olive jars , locks , and nails . These items entered the region as cacao beans and other agricultural ...
Contents
The Cultivation of Cacao Past and Present | 14 |
Cacao and Agriculture in Costa Rica | 48 |
Excursions into the Natural History of Cacao and Cacao Plantations | 80 |
Copyright | |
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13th Dalai Lama agricultural Amdo areas Avalokitesvara banana betan Bhutan Bön Bönpo Buddha Buddhist cacao flowers cacao plantations cacao trees celibate centers Central America central Tibet century ch'öpa Chapter Chinese chocolate clerical cocoa context Costa Rica cultivation cultural patterns Dalai Lama developed Dingri Dorjé Drugpa Dzogch'en early Ekvall Enlightenment gall midges Gelugpa Geshé gompa Guru Rimpoch'e Indian insects K'am Kagyüdpa Karma Karmapa Ladakh Lama's Lhasa Lhasa government lineages Mahāyāna major meditation Milarepa monastery monastic gompa monks nature Nepal Norbu Nyingmapa Orientation pods political pollination practitioners prajñā premodern rain forest rebirth region reincarnate lama religious Rimed ritual role rulers Sakya Sakyapa samsāra seeds shamanic Sherpa siddhas Snellgrove species Sūtras Tantra Tantric Tantric deities Tantric practice teachings terma tertön texts Theobroma Theravadin Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan population Tibetan religion Tibetan societies tion tradition trapa tropical trulku Trungpa Tsongk'apa Vajrayāna village wild cacao yogic yogins