Artocarpus altilis.jpg

''Artocarpus'' is a genus of approximately 60 trees and shrubs of Southeast Asian and Pacific origin, belonging to the mulberry family, Moraceae. Most species of ''Artocarpus'' are restricted to Southeast Asia; a few cultivated species are more widely distributed, especially '' A. altilis'' (breadfruit) and '' A. heterophyllus'' (jackfruit), which are cultivated throughout the tropics.

Description

All ''Artocarpus'' species are laticiferous trees or shrubs that are composed of leaves, twigs and stems capable of producing a milky sap. The flora type is monoecious and produces unisexual flowers; furthermore, both sexes are present within the same plant. The plants produce small, greenish, female flowers that grow on short, fleshy spikes. Following pollination, the flowers grow into a syncarpous fruit, and these are capable of growing into very large sizes. The stipulated leaves vary from small and entire ('' Artocarpus integer'') to large and lobed (''Artocarpus altilis''), with the cordate leaves of the species ''A. altilis'' ending in long, sharp tips.

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, a father-and-son team of botanists aboard HMS ''Resolution'' on James Cook's second voyage; they used it in their book ''Characteres generum plantarum''. It is maintained as a conserved name.

Although fossils of ''Artocarpus'' have been reported from as early as the Late Cretaceous, these fossils generally that lack key diagnostic characters such as that could definitively place them in the genus. The last common ancestor of all living ''Artocarpus'' likely originated in the vicinity of Borneo, from which ''Artocarpus'' dispersed elsewhere in Asia and Oceania.

Subgenera

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 (fused).
*Subgenus '' Pseudojaca'': Perianth is entirely connate.
*Subgenus ''Cauliflori''
Subgenus ''Pseudojaca'' is allied to the genus ''Prainea'', and some researchers treat this taxon as a fourth subgenus of ''Artocarpus''.

Extant species

Fossil record

Fossil leaves and fruits of †''Artocarpus dicksoni'' have been found in Cretaceous formations of West Greenland. Fossil leaves of †''Artocarpus ordinarius'' have been found in Cretaceous stratum at the south bank of the Yukon River just above Rampart, Alaska. Fossils of †''Artocarpus californica'' have been described from Eocene and Miocene strata of the Pacific coast of California and Oregon. 8 fossil species of ''Artocarpus'' (†''A. capellinii'', †''A. isseli'', †''A. macrophylla'', †''A. massalongoi'', †''A. multinervis'', †''A. ovalifolia'', †''A. sismondai'' and †''A. taramellii'') from the lower Oligocene, have been described from a fossil leaves collected from 1857 to 1889 in Santa Giustina and Sassello in Central Liguria, Italy.Oligocene fossil leaves of the Perrando Collection: history, preservation and paleoclimatic meaning by Maria Cristina Bonci, Grazia Vannucci, Simona Tacchino & Michele Piazza – Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana, 50 (3), 2011, 145–164. Modena, 30 dicembre 2011 – ISSN 0375-7633 – doi:10.4435/BSPI.2011.14

Uses

Several species in the genus bear edible fruit and are commonly cultivated: Breadfruit (''Artocarpus altilis''), Cempedak ('' Artocarpus integer''), Jackfruit ('' Artocarpus heterophyllus''), Kwai Muk (''Artocarpus parvus''), Lakoocha (''Artocarpus lakoocha''), Pudau (''Artocarpus kemando''), ''Anjily'' (a.k.a. Jungle Jack) ('' Artocarpus hirsutus''), Chaplaish (''Artocarpus chama''), and Marang ('' Artocarpus odoratissimus'').

Breadfruit and jackfruit are cultivated widely in the tropical Southeast Asia. Other species are cultivated locally for their timber, fruit or edible seeds. Anjily, ''A. hirsutus'', is grown for fruit and timber in the Western Ghats.

Gallery

File:Artocarpus elasticus Reinw. ex Blume - Bendo, Terap.jpg, ''Artocarpus elasticus'', Heritage Tree, Terap, Fort Canning, Singapore
File:Artocarpus nitidus subsp. lingnanensis.jpg, Bark of Artocarpus nitidus subsp. lingnanensis
File:Starr_030807-0064_Artocarpus_odoratissimus.jpg, Marang (''A. odoratissimus'') is in the ''Artocarpus'' subgenus.

See also

* Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia

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Notes

References

*Zerega, N. J. C. and T. J. Motley. 2001. ''Artocarpus'' (Moraceae) molecular phylogeny and the systematics and origins of breadfruit, ''Artocarpus altilis''. Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting. Albuquerque, NM. August 12–16, 2001.

{{Moraceae genera

Moraceae genera
Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster
Taxa named by Georg Forster