Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson ex F.A.Zorn) Fosberg

ശീമപ്ലാവ്

Family : Moraceae

Synonym : Artocarpus communis J.R. & G. Forst.

Common Names : Kadachakka, Kadapilavu, Seemaplavu, Bread fruit

Flowering Period : January - June

Distribution : Native of Pacific Islands

Habitat : Cultivated

Uses : Fruits edible, timber yielding, anti-cancerous

Key Characters :

Evergreen trees, to 10 m high. Leaves simple, alternate; lamina broadly ovate. Flowers unisexual; spikes on the main branches; male catkin: pendent, oblong-cylindric; flower: perianth glabrous, bilobed; stamen 1; anthers oblong; female spike: perianth 2 mm; ovary superior, obovoid; stigma simple. Fruit a sorosis, oblong or round, set with conical process; seeds, oblong-cylindric (seed formation is very rare).