The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens

Common name: Jackfruit, Jaca, לחמן שונה-עלים (ג׳קפרוט), לחמן שונה-עלים

Family: Moraceae (Mulberry)

Distribution: India, and cultivated throughout the tropics. Invasive in Brazil.

Habitat: Humid rainforests, up to 1,000m.

IUCN Red list: Least concern

Life form: Broad leaved tree

Uses: Fruit edible - fresh or cooked, the leaves are used in traditional medicine, the seeds are used as an aphrodisiac. Most of the tree is used for different purposes in various cultures

Etymology: Artocarpus means Bread-fruit, its common name is Jackfruit.

In memory: of Nizza Yaffe-Ovadia, a teacher of nature and life.

Description: An evergreen tree, 10-20 m tall. The trunk is blackish-brown with a thick bark. It contains a gummy latex. The leaves are ovate witha pointed tip. They vary in size - 7-15 (or more) cm long, 3-7 cm wide. The tree is monoecious, meaning male and female inflorescences grow separately on the same tree. The flowers and fruit grow on short pedicels directly from the trunks and large branches. The fruit is melon-shaped and huge, it is a composite fruit, simillar to the pineapple. It is the largest tree-fruit - it is 30-100 cm long and 25-50 cm wide. A ripe fruit can weigh 55 Kg. The fruit shell is warty and yellow.