From Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands
by Elbert L. Little and Frank H. Wadsworth
Mulberry Family (Moraceae)
Jaca, jackfruit
Artocarpus Heterophyllus, Lam.
This cultivated relative of breadfruit is characterized by: (1)
giant, elliptic, rounded or irregular- shaped yellow-green fruits 1-2
feet long and 1/2-1 foot in diameter, covered with sharp conical
points; (2) milkv juice in the bark; and (3) leaves conunonly elliptic
or obovate, 4-6 inches long and 2-3 inches broad, dark green and
sliglitly shiny, thick and leathery.
A small to medium-sized
evergreen tree to 40 feet in height and 1 foot in trunk diameter. The
gray bark is smoothish, becoming rough, furrowed, and thick (1/2 inch).
Inner bark is light brown. gritty and almost tasteless, yielding
tasteless latex. The twigs are gray, with raised rounded leaf scars,
ending in a dark green, narrow, pointed, minutely hairy scale (stipule)
1/2 inch or more in length forming the bud.
The leaves are
alternate, witli stout petioles 1/2-3/4 inch long. Leaf blades vary in
shape, sometimes oblong or narrow and on young plants and shoots
occasionally 2- or 3-lobed.
Male and female flowers are in
different flower clusters, enlarged and fleshy, on the same tree
(monoecious). The male cluster on a stalk 2 inches long is stoutly
club-shaped, 2-4 inches long, yellowish green, and with odor like
muskmelon, bearing very many crowded male flowers less than 1/16 inch
long, each consisting of a 2-lobed calyx and 1 stamen. Female flowers,
very numerous in the elliptic or rounded female flower clusters, are
more than 1/16 inch long, composed of tubular hairy calyx and pistil
with 1-celled 1-ovuled ovary, slender style, and broader yellow stigma.
The
multiple fruits, weighing 20-40 pounds, have a hard outer covering of
the enlarged female flowers, each with a sharp conical point 3/8 inch
long and about 1/4 inch across at base. Within is a whitish fibrous
pulp containing many seeds (80 to a pound), which are irregularly
bean-shaped, whitish or light brown, 11/4-11/2 inches long. In fruit
nearly trough the year.
The wood is yellowish, darkening to
brown upon exposure, fairly hard and resistant, taking a good polish.
Little used in Puerto Rico; elsewhere used in cabinetwork and carpentry.
Occasionally
planted in gardens, chiefly in the cities and towns of Puerto Rico and
Virgin Islands for ornament, shade, or the large edible fruits, though
much less common than breadfruit. The fruits, which are eaten cooked as
a starchy vegetable, have a peculiar flavor and are less palatable than
breadfruits.
Range -
Native of tropical Asia from India to Malaya and East Indies. Widely
planted in tropical regions, including southern Florida, West Indies,
and continental tropical America.
Other Common Names -
pana cimarrona (Puerto Rico); jaca (Spanish); pan de fruta, buen pan,
albopan (Dominican Republic); rima (Cuba); castano (Nicaragua);
jaqueira, arbol de pan (Colombia); jackfruit, jack (United States,
English); cartahar (British Guiana); jaquier (French); jaca (Brazil).
Botanical Synonyms - Artocarpus integrifolius auth, not L. f., A. integer auth, not (Thumb.) Merr.
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