Plants and Flowers

Jackfruit or Artocarpus heterophyllus is the close relative of a breadfruit tree.

Jackfruit is the evergreen tree reaching 20 m in height. Leaves are oblong, oval or elliptic, 10-15 centimeters in length, leatherlike, glossy, of dark green color. Young leaves are cleft. A tree is monoecious plant. Male and pistillate flowers are ordinary-looking, collected in unisex inflorescences. Male flowers - on thin branchlets, frequently among foliage. Pistillate flowers are larger, on thick strong pedicels which grow directly on a trunk (cauliflory), at the basis of the bottom branches or from the ground at the foot of a tree.

The matter is that unlike a breadfruit tree with its massive branches, branches of a jackfruit are rather thin and fragile, and fruits are formed where the trunk is strong enough.

The tree of a jackfruit is beautiful and majestic. In tropics it grows till the huge sizes, as a big east oak. Flowers are pollinated with a wind and insects. In culture it is frequently pollinated by hands. Fruits grow ripe for 3-8 months. All parts of a tree contain sticky, white latex.

• Jackfruit: Distribution
• Jackfruit in cookery and manufacture
• Room growing of a jackfruit
• Tropical plants and cold (Part 1)