Artocarpus lakoocha Roxb.

Economically important plant species.

A native deciduous tree

Flowering: February-May. Fruiting: July-August (Summer Season)

Flowering/Fruiting: March-July.

These trees are monoecious, i.e., male and female flowers occur separately in the same tree. Pollinated by honey bees and earwigs. Tree starts fruiting after 4-5 years.

Seeds are passed through the alimentary canals of animals that feed on the fruits.

A large tree up to 20 m tall, with a dense spreading crown. Bark dark brown, exfoliating in small round woody plate, inside reddish, softly fibrous with faint streaks of white latex, copious milkly latex. Young parts tomentose. Leaves broadly oblong or elliptic-obovate, 12-28 cm long, 6-15 cm broad, scabrid, pubescent beneath, coriaceous, margin entire, apex acute or obtuse, lateral veins 6-14 on either side of midvein, petiole 1-3.5 cm long, stipules lanceolate, 10-15 mm long, hairy. Inflorescence axillary, globose on short pubescent peduncles. Male receptacles ovoid, 0.25-0.5 cm across, subsessile, orange yellow, puberulous, perianth segments 2-3 triangular, truncate, anthers exerted, 2 celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Female receptacles 0.3-.6 cm across, irregularly lobulate, subglobose, slightly longer than male. Syncarp globose, 4-10 cm in diameter, irregularly lobed, almost smooth, yellow on maturity. Anthocarp completely united. Seeds broad, about 1 cm across.

A large deciduous tree with spreading crown about 20 m in height. Leaves are about 4-12 inch long, broadly oblong, coriaceous, rough above and soft pubescent beneath. The flowers are unisexual. Male and female flowers in separate spherical heads but on the same tree. Male flowers are yellow-orange while the female are reddish. Fruits are irregularly lobed, velvety, yellow or orange red when ripe

Susceptible to insect pests.

Deciduous forests and cultivated.

Cultivated

Not evaluated by the IUCN Redlist. Rare (Ganeshaiah, K. N. et. al. (2012) Plants of Western Ghats)

Fruits are edible. Leaves used as fodder. Timber used make good quality plywood. Bark is eaten with betel leaves. Used as a medicine.

The ripe fruit and male flower are eaten raw, boiled, steamed or roasted. The wood is hard and termite resistant and are used in heavy construction, poles, furniture, boats and plywood etc.

Nutritional Value

Energy 90 kcal; total fat 0.4 gm; carbohydrate 21.2 gm; protein 1.2 gm; dietary fibres 1.5 gm; sugar 19 gm; vitamin A 0.03 gm; vitamin C 15.7 gm; sodium 4mg; potassium 425mg; calcium 32 mg; iron 0.01 mg & magnesium 35 mg, per 100gm

Flowers and fruits edible and used in regional cuisine, leaves used as animal feed, stem for firewood and timber. Has medicinal and phamacological value.

Apart from a good timber, the tree is also reported to have some medicinal properties. The root is an astringent and is used as a purgative; when macerated it can be used as a poultice for skin ailments. The bark are also used to treat headache