Canopy characteristics (leaf area index, fractional light interception, extinction coefficient) of mature trees of ten clonally propagated cacao cultivars were measured over a period of 14 months at an experiment site in Bahia, Brazil. Differences in leaf area index between clones became more pronounced over time. When an approximately constant leaf area index was reached (after about nine months), the leaf area index varied between clones from 2.8 to 4.5. Clonal differences in the relationship between leaf area index and fractional light interception implied differences in canopy architecture, as reflected by the range of extinction coefficients (mean values ranged from 0.63 for the clone TSH-565 to 0.82 for CC-10). The results demonstrate the potential for breeding more photosynthetically efficient cacao canopies.