Artocarpus heterophyllus

Jackfruit is a tree which is unique in the fact that it produced huge fruits directly from its stem. Jackfruit is most probably native of the rain-forests of the Western Ghats. In fact, the name Jackfruit is derived from the malayalam name chakka. The tree is handsome and stately, 30-70 ft tall, with evergreen, alternate, glossy, somewhat leathery leaves to 9 in long, oval on mature trees, sometimes oblong or deeply lobed on young shoots. All parts contain a sticky, white latex. Short, stout flowering twigs emerge from the trunk and large branches, or even from the soil-covered base of very old trees. Tiny male flowers are borne in oblong clusters 2-4 in in length; the female flower clusters are elliptic or rounded. Largest of all tree-borne fruits, the jackfruit may be 8-to 3 ft long and 6-20 in wide, and the weight ranges from 10-50 kg. The "rind' or exterior of the compound or aggregate fruit is green or yellow when ripe and composed of numerous hard, cone-like points attached to a thick and rubbery, pale yellow or whitish wall. The interior consists of large "bulbs" of yellow, banana-flavored flesh, massed among narrow ribbons of thin, tough undeveloped perianths, and a central, pithy core. Each bulb encloses a smooth, oval, light-brown "seed" covered by a thin white membrane. There may be 100 or up to 500 seeds in a single fruit. When fully ripe, the unopened jackfruit emits a strong disagreeable odor, resembling that of decayed onions, while the pulp of the opened fruit smells of pineapple and banana.