cocoa vs Common Kidney-Vetch

Theobroma cacao compared with Anthyllis vulneraria

Key Differences

• cocoa is Not Evaluated while Common Kidney-Vetch is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	cocoa	Common Kidney-Vetch
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)
Family	Malvaceae	Fabaceae
Genus	Theobroma	Anthyllis
Species	Theobroma cacao	Anthyllis vulneraria

Evolutionary Relationship

cocoa and Common Kidney-Vetch share a common ancestor at the Class level: Magnoliopsida. (Dicots)

Conservation Status

cocoa

NE — Not Evaluated

Common Kidney-Vetch

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	cocoa	Common Kidney-Vetch
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

cocoa

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (7 countries), Asia (Laos, Philippines, Taiwan), North America (Costa Rica), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Common Kidney-Vetch

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

cocoa

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is a small tropical tree in the family Malvaceae, native to the humid lowland forests of the Amazon basin and Mesoamerica, where it originated in domestication by pre-Columbian civilisations — notably the Maya and Aztec — who consumed fermented cacao beverages in ritual and elite contexts for millennia before European contact. Cultivated commercially across the humid tropics today, primarily in West Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria), Southeast Asia, and Latin America, it is one of the world's most economically significant crop plants. Growing to 4–10 metres under cultivation, the tree bears distinctive cauliflorous flowers — produced directly on the main trunk and large branches — that are pollinated by tiny midges of the genus Forcipomyia. The large, ribbed pods develop on the trunk and branches, enclosing 20–50 seeds embedded in a sweet white pulp. After harvest, seeds undergo controlled fermentation and drying to develop the complex chemical precursors of chocolate flavour. The seeds contain methylxanthines including theobromine and caffeine, as well as flavonoid antioxidants. Theobroma cacao has not been assessed on the IUCN Red List, though wild populations in its native Amazonian and Mesoamerican range face pressure from deforestation. Commercial production relies on a narrow genetic base and faces growing threats from fungal diseases including witches' broom and frosty pod rot.

Common Kidney-Vetch

Common Kidney-Vetch (<em>Anthyllis vulneraria</em>) is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat degradation and agricultural intensification across parts of its range. It is widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (nine countries), North America (Canada and the United States), and Oceania (Australia), occupying six distinct biome types and occurring within the Indomalayan and Oceanian biogeographic realms. The species typically grows in dry, calcareous grasslands, coastal cliffs, sand dunes, and rocky slopes, often favoring nutrient-poor soils. It is an important larval food plant for certain butterfly species, particularly the Small Blue butterfly in Europe, and contributes to soil fertility through nitrogen fixation via root nodules. Its cheerful yellow, orange, or red flower heads make it a recognizable component of chalk and limestone grassland communities. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.