Cacao sprout (IMAGE) Penn State Caption In the research, embryonic cacao, over expressing the florigen gene, develop tiny flowers in tissue culture. This study is significant because cacao trees typically don't flower until they are between three and eight years of age. Such early flowering promises to greatly speed up breeding to develop disease-resistant trees. Credit Sarah Prewitt, Penn State Usage Restrictions non commercial use only License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.