Artocarpus

Artocarpus
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Moraceae
Tribe:	Artocarpeae[1]
Genus:	Artocarpus J.R.Forster & G.Forster
Species
See text

Artocarpus is a genus of about 60 trees of Southeast Asian origin and the Pacific, belonging to the mulberry family, Moraceae.

Description

All Artocarpus species are laticiferous trees or shrubs whose leaves, twigs and the stem can produce a milky sap. They are monoecious, with unisexual flowers, with both sexes on the same plant. The small, greenish, female flowers grow on short, fleshy spikes. After pollination they grow into a syncarpous fruit, which can become very large. The ovary is superior. The stipulated leaves vary from small and entire (Artocarpus integer) to large and lobed (Artocarpus altilis). The cordate leaves of A. altilis end in a long, sharp tip.

Taxonomy

The name Artocarpus is derived from the Greek words artos ( = bread) and karpos ( = fruit). This name was coined by Johann Reinhold Forster and J. Georg Adam Forster, the father and son team of botanist aboard the HMS Resolution on James Cook's second voyage, and is maintained as a conserved name.

Distribution

Most species of Artocarpus are restricted to Malesia and Southeast Asia; a few cultivated species are more widely distributed, especially Artocarpus altilis and A. heterophyllus, which are cultivated throughout the tropics.^[2]

Uses

Several species in the genus bear edible fruit and are commonly cultivated: Artocarpus altilis (Breadfruit), Artocarpus integer (Cempedak), Artocarpus heterophyllus (Jackfruit) and Artocarpus odoratissimus (Marang). In the most recent revision of Artocarpus, the highly variable species Artocarpus communis contains the following three species of breadfruit : Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus mariannensis and Artocarpus camansi.

Breadfruit and jackfruit are cultivated widely in the tropical Southeast Asia. Other species are cultivated locally for their timber, fruit or edible seeds.

Species

Recent phylogenetic research, based on leaf arrangement, leaf anatomical characters and stipules, indicates that there are at least two subgenera in Artocarpus :

• subgenus Artocarpus : perianth of fruit is partially connate
• subgenus Pseudojaca : perianth entirely connate.

The genus Prainea is closely allied to the subgenus Pseudojaca, and some researchers treat it as a third subgenus of Artocarpus. The following list still follows the traditional line.

Marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus)

• Artocarpus altilis - (included in A. communis)
• Artocarpus blancoi
• Artocarpus camansi - (included in A. communis)
• Artocarpus chaplasha - Chaplaish Bangladesh
• Artocarpus communis - Breadfruit, Antipolo, Camansi, Anubing; see also African Breadfruit)
• Artocarpus elasticus - Bendo
• Artocarpus heterophyllus - Nangka, Jackfruit
• Artocarpus hirsutus - Angily, Angelin, Hirsute Artocarpus
• Artocarpus hypargyreus
• Artocarpus integer - Cempedak
• Artocarpus lingnanensis
• Artocarpus mariannensis - (included in A. communis)
• Artocarpus nitidus - Jackfruit
• Artocarpus nobilis
• Artocarpus odoratissimus - Marang
• Artocarpus rigidus - Monkey Jack
• Artocarpus rubrovenus
• Artocarpus tamaran
• Artocarpus treculianus

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Artocarpus

Wikispecies has information related to: Artocarpus

• Possible subgenera of Artocarpus
• Nyree Conrad Zerega- Dissertation Topic : Phylogeny of the genus Artocarpus (Moraceae), with a focus on the systematics, genetics, conservation, and biogeography of breadfruit
• Zerega, NJC and TJ Motley. 2001. Artocarpus (Moraceae) molecular phylogeny and the systematics and origins of breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis. Presented at the Botanical Society of America annual meeting, Albuquerque, NM, August 12 – 16, 2001.