Artocarpus - Breadfruit Tree, Jaca, Jack Fruit

(Artocar'pus)

DESCRIPTION: These are tropical trees that grow wild in India and Malaya. In the U.S. they must be grown in a warm greenhouse except in southern Florida, where they may be planted outside. The stems of these plants contain a milky juice. These are handsome plants when grown in large pots or tubs in a greenhouse that has a minimum temperature of 60 degrees. The main kind is A. communis, which can grow about 40 feet high and has giant, deeply lobed leaves. Egg-shaped fruits that are about 6 inches long, are produced on young shoots. When these fruits are baked, they kind of have the texture and taste of bread, thus the name Breadfruit Tree. A. integrifolia, The Jack Fruit or Jaca, bears huge fruits straight from the trunk of the tree and its leaves are not lobed. Its fruits are also used as food but aren't as agreeable.

POTTING: They should be potted in loam, leaf mold or peat moss and sand. Repotting should be done in February or March.

PROPAGATION: This is accomplished by taking cuttings of young shoots in the spring, and inserting them in a propagating case in a greenhouse, or by detaching suckers when they're a few inches long.

VARIETIES: A. communis; A. integrifolia.

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