Plant · P-510

Jackfruit

Artocarpus heterophyllus

Jackfruit is a massive tropical tree that produces some of the largest fruit of any cultivated plant, with the unripe pulp cooked as a starchy vegetable and the ripe pulp eaten fresh or in desserts; the seeds are a separate food in their own right, tasting close to chestnut when roasted. Its broad leaves are also a genuine livestock fodder, rich enough in protein that farmers lop them for cattle and goats, though the tannins mean the diet needs a nitrogen supplement alongside it. The cut latex bleeds constantly, stains permanently, and makes every harvest and pruning a sticky job. It has no tolerance for cold at all, with branches dying near 30 F, and even pruned hard for size it still needs 20 to 25 feet of clearance, so it only works as an open-ground tree somewhere that never freezes.