Cacau da mata

The translation for this title is wild cacao, or cacao of the forest. What you see in the attached image are the flowers of the tree, which are cauliforous. This variety of cacao is also called monkey's cacao because the monkeys normally get to it first. It's always a surprise to find one of these trees in bloom, as we did today. The flowers begin at the bottom of the trunk and go almost to the top, a spectacular show of color. I was with a Swiss couple, who also enjoyed the highlights.