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• Taxonomy
• Physical Description
• Distribution
• Growth
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
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Taxonomy

Physical Description

Family Moraceae:

Trees, shrubs, vines, or rarely herbs, frequently with milky or watery latex, sometimes spiny. Stipules present, frequently caducous. Leaves alternate, rarely opposite; petiole often present and well-defined; leaf blade simple, sometimes with cystoliths, margin entire or palmately lobed, venation pinnate or palmate. Inflorescences axillary, frequently paired, racemose, spicate, capitate, or rarely cymose, sometimes a fig or syconium with flowers completely enclosed within a hollow receptacle. Flowers unisexual (plants monoecious or dioecious), small to very small. Calyx lobes (1 or) 2-4(-8), free or connate, imbricate or valvate. Corolla absent. Male flowers: stamens as many as and opposite to calyx lobes (except in Artocarpus), straight or inflexed in bud; anthers 1- or 2-loculed, crescent-shaped to top-shaped; pistillode (rudimentary sterile pistil) often present. Female flowers: calyx lobes usually 4; ovary superior, semi-inferior, or inferior, 1(or 2) -loculed; ovules 1 per locule, anatropous or campylotropous; style branches 1 or 2; stigmas usually filiform. Fruit usually a drupe, rarely an achene, enveloped by an enlarged calyx and/or immersed in a fleshy receptacle, often joined into a syncarp. Seed solitary; endosperm present or absent.

Between 37 and 43 genera and 1100–1400 species: widespread in tropical and subtropical areas, less common in temperate areas; nine genera and 144 species (26 endemic, five introduced) in China.

Economically, the most important species are those of Morus and Maclura associated with the production of silk. Some species in Broussonetia, Maclura, and Morus are important for paper making; some species in Artocarpus, Ficus, and Morus have edible fruit; and some species of Artocarpus and Broussonetia are used for furniture or timber.^[1]

Genus Artocarpus:

Trees, evergreen or deciduous, with latex; monoecious. Stipules free, intrapetiolar or lateral, amplexicaul or not. Leaves spirally arranged or distichous; leaf blade simple to pinnatifid, rarely pinnate, leathery, margin entire. Inflorescences sometimes borne on main branches or trunk, unisexual, capitate, many-flowered. Male flowers: free, surrounded by peltate to clavate interfloral bracts; calyx tubular, slightly 2-lobed or 2-4-lobed; lobes imbricate or valvate; stamen 1, straight in bud, slightly to conspicuously exserted from calyx; anthers globose to oblong, 2-loculed; pistillode absent. Female flowers: at least partially adnate to each other and/or to interfloral bracts; calyx tubular, basally thin walled, apically thick walled and either completely fused or not; ovary free; style central or ± lateral; stigmas 1 or 2, equal or unequal. Flowers and bracts fused laterally to form a syncarp. Syncarp fleshy throughout or at least at basal portions of calyx, sometimes very large, flowers and bracts fused at their tips to form an areolate surface or free and forming variously shaped processes on surface. Seed without endosperm; cotyledons fleshy, equal or unequal.

About 50 species: tropical and subtropical Asia, Pacific Islands; 14 species (five endemic, two introduced) in China.

Some species are important for their edible fruit (most notably Artocarpus communis, breadfruit), and/or timber.^[2]

Habit: Evergreen.

Distribution

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Partial to Full Shade.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Artocarpus:

There are approximately 183 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: A. longifolius adpressus · A. melinoxylus brevipedunculatus · A. teysmannii subglabrus · A. albobrunneus · A. altilis (Breadfruit) · A. altilus · A. altissima · A. altissimus · A. anisophylla · A. anisophyllus · A. annulatus · A. antiarifolius · A. asperulus · A. atilis · A. bicolor · A. biocolor · A. blancoi · A. blumei · A. borneensis · A. brasiliensis · A. brevipedunculatus · A. brevisericea · A. brevisericeus · A. brunneifolia · A. brunneifolius · A. calophyllus · A. camansi · A. cannoni · A. chama · A. chaplasha · A. clementis · A. corneri · A. cumingiana · A. cumingianus · A. dadah · A. dadak · A. dasyphylla · A. dasyphyllus · A. denisonianus · A. dimorphophyllus · A. dubia · A. eberhardtii · A. echinatus · A. elastica · A. elasticus (Artocarpus) · A. elmeri · A. erythrocarpus · A. excelsus · A. exculpta · A. ficifolia · A. ficifolius · A. finlaysonianus · A. foeniformis · A. fretissi · A. fretissii · A. fulvicortex · A. glaucescens · A. glaucus · A. gomeziana · A. gomezianus · A. gongshanensis · A. griffithii · A. hainanensis · A. heterophylla · A. heterophyllus (Jaca) · A. hirsuta · A. hirsutus (Hirsute Artocarpus) · A. hispidus · A. horridus · A. hypargyraeus (Kwai Muk) · A. hypargyrea · A. hypargyreus · A. hypoargyrea · A. incisifolius · A. incisus · A. indica · A. indicus · A. integer (Chempedak) · A. integra · A. integrifolia (Jack Fruit) · A. jaca · A. kemando · A. kertau · A. kunstleri · A. laciniatus · A. lacucha · A. laevis · A. lakoocha · A. lanaceaefolia · A. lanceaefolia · A. lanceifolius · A. lanceolata · A. lanceolatus · A. leeuwenii · A. lessigiana · A. leytensis · A. limpato · A. lingnanensis · A. lowii · A. macrocarpon

Bibliography

• Chang Siushih, Wu Chengyih & Cao Ziyu. 1998. Moroideae. In: Chang Siushih & Wu Chengyih, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 23(1): 1219.

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Notes

Identifiers:

• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 16144268
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 646809

Footnotes:

1. Zhengyi Wu, Zhe-Kun Zhou & Michael G. Gilbert "Moraceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 21. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.
2. "Artocarpus". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 30. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org.