Cacao trees grow in the hot, damp shade under the leafy canopy of the tallest thees in the rainforest. There, the cacao trees blossom with pink and white flowers. These flowers grow straight from the trunk and main branches. Tiny insects called midges carry pollen between the blossom, fertilising them so cocoa pods will grow. Only a few of the hundreds of blossoms develop into cocoa pods. Like the blossom, the pods grow straight from the trunk and branches of the tree.Many cocoa trees grow both blossoms and pods all year round.