Artocarpus integer (Thunb.) Merr.
Family
Moraceae
Synonyms
Artocarpus integrifolia L.f.(nomen illegitimum), Artocarpus polyphema Persoon (nomen illegitimum), Artocarpus champeden (Lour.) Stokes.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Chempedak (Cultivated), bankong (Wild), baroh (Johor). |
| English | Chempedak. |
| Indonesia | Chempedak, campedak (Malay), baroh (Lingga). |
| Burma (Myanmar) | Sonekadat. |
| Thailand | Champada. |
Geographical Distributions
Artocarpus integer is widely distributed in Burma (Tenasserim), Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, the Lingga Archipelago, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Irian Jaya. It is also cultivated in these areas as well as in western Java.
Description
A. integer is an evergreen monoecious tree that can reach up to 20 m tall. It is seldom buttressed, grey-brown bark, bumps on the trunk and with the main limbs where the leafy twigs are produced, which bear the fruits.
The twigs, stipules and leaves are with brown wiry hairs and measure up to 3 mm long. The twigs are 2.5-4 mm thick and with ring-shaped stipular scars. The stipules are ovate and measure up to 9 cm long. The leaves are obovate to elliptic, measuring 5-25 cm x 2.5-12 cm, rounded to wedge-shaped at the base, entire at the margin and acuminate at the apex. The lateral veins are 6-10 pairs and curve forward. The petiole is 1-3 cm long.
The inflorescences are solitary, axillary and cauliflorous or ramiflorous on the short leafy shoots. The male heads are cylindrical, measuring 3-5.5 cm x 1 cm, whitish-yellow and with a peduncle measures 3-6 cm long. The female heads are with simple slender styles and exserted to 1.5 mm long.
The yellowish to brownish to orange-green fruit is a syncarp, cylindrical to almost spherical, measuring 20-35 cm x 10-15 cm, strongly smelling at maturity, smooth or covered by closely set, firm and with the obtuse prickles or processes of 2-4 mm in length. The peduncle is 5-9 cm long and with about 1 cm thick wall.
The fruiting perianths are numerous, soft, fleshy, become detached from wall and core. The pericarps (including the seeds) are ellipsoid to oblong, measuring about 3 cm x 2 cm, with unequal cotyledons, thick and fleshy. The germination is epigeal.
Ecology / Cultivation
A. integer is a common tree in secondary forests and locally abundant in primary lowland rainforests in its area of natural occurrence. It is a long-lived sub-canopy tree. It can grow up to 500(-1300) m altitude and often on wet hillsides. It is strictly tropical and always restricted to regions without a distinct dry season. The tree thrives on fertile well-drained soils, but prefers a fairly high water table (0.5-2 m). It is also can survive in periodic flooding, even with acid swamp water (Sumatra:Palembang, Palopo).
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 2: Edible fruits and nuts.
