The jackfruit is the fruit of jack tree Artocarpus heterophyllus, a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as 55 kg in weight, 90 cm in length, and 50 cm in diameter. A mature jackfruit tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year. The jackfruit is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten.
Jackfruit
Jackfruit tree illustrated from one of the earliest natural history books about China by Jesuit Missionary author Michael Boym in 1656.
Jackfruit tree trunk showing texture and coloration
A Jackfruit tree
Morus, a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinate taxa, three of which are well-known and are ostensibly named for the fruit color of the best-known cultivar: white, red, and black mulberry, with numerous cultivars and some taxa currently unchecked and awaiting taxonomic scrutiny. M. alba is native to South Asia, but is widely distributed across Europe, Southern Africa, South America, and North America. M. alba is also the species most preferred by the silkworm, and is regarded as an invasive species in Brazil and the United States.
Morus (plant)
Clusters (inflorescences) of unopened male flower buds
Female catkins
Young mulberry fruit clusters