English: African breadfruit; Breadfruit; Wild jackfruit; African boxwood.
Igbo: Ukwa.
Clades:
Moraceae.
Region: West and Central Africa.
Habitat: wet areas and forests; 1500 metres above sea level.
Ecology: Chimpanzees break and eat the fruits.
BotanyTree; up to a height of 30 m.
Stem: up to 6 m; bark is grey, discharges a cream latex.
Leaves: large; dark green above, lighter below; in two ranks; stipules are amplexicaul, enclosing the bud.
Inflorescences are unisexual, sometimes bisexual, or globose, and borne in the leaf axils or on the older wood and branches.
Flowers: female flowers line the outer surface of a large receptacle, bread fruit; flowers from October until February.
Fruit: hard, spongy when ripe; fibrous; greenish yellow; round; big, ± 20 cm; up to 8.5 kg weight; contains abundant seeds.
Seeds: edible part.
Use: seeds, 200 kg of dried seeds per tree.