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Jackfruit
Diana Studer, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

Fig & mulberry family

Jackfruit

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

Names

EnglishJackfruit
DutchNangka
SpanishÁrbol de yaca
Chinese菠萝蜜
Scientific nameArtocarpus heterophyllus Lam.

About this species

The jackfruit or jakfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a fruit tree in the mulberry family of Moraceae. Native to India, the species was first described under the name Artocarpus heterophyllus in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique in 1789 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, based on a specimen collected by botanist Philibert Commerson.

The jackfruit tree is a large evergreen tree that can grow up to 30 m (98 ft) tall. It has a dense foliage with leathery leaves which are smooth on one side and rough on the other. Fine hairs cover various parts of the tree, and the bark and leaves produce a sticky, milky sap. The tree is monoecious and produces an inflorescence consisting of cluster of small, pale green flowers from the trunk and large branches. The tree produces the largest of all tree-borne fruits, measuring up to 90 cm (35 in) in length and 50 cm (20 in) in width and weighing up to 50 kg (110 lb). The yellowish-green fruit has a thick shell with numerous tubercles and emits a characteristic odour on ripening.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderRosales
FamilyMoraceae
GenusArtocarpus

Related species in Suriname