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(Last Modified On 1/17/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/17/2013)
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Common
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Breadfruit breadnuts
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Common
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arbol de pan fruta de pan
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Common
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Jackfruits
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Family
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MORACEAE
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Description
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Trees and shrubs, very rarely low herbs (Dorstenia spp.), more or less abun- dantly laticiferous; monoecious or dioecious. Leaves alternate, distichous or spiral, simple, entire to deeply lobed, basifixed or peltate (Cecropia), variously involute or convolute in vernation; stipules lateral or intrapetiolar, commonly amplexicaul. Flowers unisexual, monochlamydeous or naked, minute, commonly in racemes, spikes or heads, rarely in cymes, in Ficus enclosed within fleshy saccate axial receptacles (syconia). Stamens 1-4, the filaments involute or erect before anthesis, the anthers 1- to 2-celled, longitudinal or rarely circumscissile (Brosimum spp.) in dehiscence. Pistil 1- to 2-carpellate; ovary superior to inferior, 1-celled, containing a single erect to pendulous ovule. True fruit generally a drupe or an achene, but the perianth or the whole inflorescence becoming fleshy at maturity, as in the breadfruit (Artocarpus) and the fig (Ficus).
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Habit
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Tree shrub
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Note
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The family is very widely distributed throughout the warmer parts of the earth and supplies one of the most essential elements of a "typical" lowland land- scape in the tropics. There are well over 1000 species, of which more than half are included within the familiar genus Ficus. This is a very fortunate circum- stance for, with the exception of such well-known but smaller members as Morus and Artocarpus, the other genera are for the most part chaotically ill-defined. There can scarcely be an equally prominent family of flowering plants more in need of taxonomic revision than Moraceae, which have not had an inclusive monographer since Trecul and Miquel more than a century ago. Engler's treat- ment of the family for "Die natuirlichen Pflanzenfamilien", derived from Bentham and Hooker, definitely lacks realism; Trophis and Sorocea, for example, which were placed in different subfamilies, possibly are congeneric. Although all genera reported from Panama are distinguished with some difficulty in the key which follows, probably less than a dozen natural groups actually exist.
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Key
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a. Trees and shrubs. b. Leaves distichous; stipules lateral to fully amplexicaul. c. Pistillate flowers with a simple filiform lateral stigma, in dense globular heads; staminate flowers in elongate spikes with spatulate glandular-carinate bracts; stipules lateral, not leaving a scar com- pletely surrounding the stem; leaves usually strongly inequilateral and more or less cordate at the base, closely serrate to entire; stems frequently with stout axillary spines ....................................... 1. CHLOROPHORA cc. Pistillate flowers with a central more or less prominently 2-lobed stigma. d. Both pistillate and staminate flowers in more or less elongate racemes or spikes (the pistillate flowers occasionally in axillary pairs or solitary in Clarisia), with small peltate bracts; stipules lateral to about half-amplexicaul, not leaving a scar completely surrounding the stems; leaves nearly or quite equilateral and cuneate to rounded at the base, entire to rather irregularly and remotely serrate; stems unarmed. e. Staminate inflorescences solitary or paired on separate pedun- cles, the flowers with an obvious perianth and 4 stamens; pistillate flowers without individual basal involucres. f. Staminate flowers spicate or racemose, with an obvious pistillode, the stamens strongly inflexed before anthesis, the anthers introrse; pistillate flowers spicate or racemose, epigynous . .-..................... ... 2. TROPHIS ff. Staminate flowers racemose, without an obvious pistillode, the stamens scarcely inflexed before anthesis, the anthers extrorse; pistillate flowers racemose, perigynous. - . 3. SOROCEA ee. Staminate inflorescences usually 2-several on a common peduncle, the flowers with a vestigial perianth and a single stamen; pistillate flowers with inconspicuous but persistent individual basal involucres, epigynous .-. 4. CLARISIA dd. Both pistillate and staminate flowers in globose or discoid heads (the pistillate usually solitary in Brosimum, Olmedia and Pseudolmedia); stipules fully amplexicaul and leaving a scar completely surrounding the stem (except in Batocarpus and occasionally in Brosimum). e. Inflorescences typically monoecious (occasionally dioecious) globose heads with 1-2 central pistillate flowers surrounded by innumerable minute staminate commingled with more or less conspicuous peltate bracts; stipules lateral or almost fully amplexicaul; unarmed trees. -. 5. BROSIMUM ee. Inflorescences dioecious, without peltate bracts. f. Stipules lateral, not leaving a scar completely surrounding the stem; staminate heads discoid, involucrate; pistillate heads globose, without an involucre; unarmed trees. -. 6. BATOCARPUS ff. Stipules fully amplexicaul, leaving a scar completely sur- rounding the stem. g. Pistillate heads with several fertile flowers; anthers oval, scarcely longer than broad. h. Unarmed trees, pistillate heads with a definitely organized involucre; staminate heads discoid, with a definitely organized involucre. i. Staminate heads flat or nearly so, the flowers definitely organized with 4 tepals and 4 stamens; pistillate flowers free and hypogynous; leaves entire to indefinitely serrate-undulate, glabrous to softly puberulent . ....-.-.-... 7. PEREBEA ii. Staminate heads more or less conduplicate-flabellate, with essentially unorganized flowers; pistillate flow- ers coherent at the base and perigynous; leaves closely and minutely ciliate-denticulate, scabrous to hispid. 8. CASTILLA hh. Aculeate trees; pistillate heads without a definite involucre; staminate heads globose, without an invo- lucre; leaves entire to indefinitely undulate. . 9. POULSENIA gg. Pistillate heads typically with a solitary prominently involucrate flower; anthers oblongoid, much longer than broad; unarmed trees. h. Staminate flowers with a broadly campanulate perianth and 4 stamens; pistillate flowers hypogynous; leaves usually more or less serrate-undulate toward the tip.10. OLMEDIA hh. Staminate heads without organized flowers, the stamens commingled with prominent bracts and bracteoles; pistillate flowers perigynous or epigynous; leaves entire1 . ......... . 1. PSEUDOLMEDIA bb. Leaves spiral; stipules fully amplexicaul and leaving a scar completely surrounding the stem. c. Flowers wholly contained within a more or less fleshy osteolate saccate predominantly monoecious receptacle; leaves of native species entire; stems mostly solid-.......... 12. Ficus cc. Flowers external in spikes or cymes; plants dioecious; stems usually hollow. d. Leaves basifixed, entire to palmately lobed. e. Leaves typically palmately lobed (entire in some extra- Panamanian species); inflorescences repeatedly cymose, the flowers rather indefinitely glomerate at the ends of the branches; staminate flowers with 4 nearly free tepals and 4 separate stamens; pistillate flowers with a fleshy cupular peri- anth and an obscurely 2-lobed stigma; fruit a rather large false drupe ..........-... .. 13. POUROUMA ee. Leaves entire to more or less definitely undulate or crenate towards the tip; staminate inflorescences dichotomously compounded small globular heads, the flowers with 4 more or less united tepals and 2 completely united stamens; pistillate inflorescences superficially simple or rather obscurely dichoto- mous heads, the flowers much as in Cecropia; fruit a small slightly fleshy drupe-.................................14. COUSSAPOA dd. Leaves peltate, palmately lobed (or compound in some extra- Panamanian species); both staminate and pistillate inflorescences of spadicose spikes in digitate clusters, the perianths tubular with thin shredding walls and a fleshy porous operculum, the stamens 2, the stigma penicillate, barely exserted; fruit a minute slightly fleshy drupe..-.............................................. 15. CECROPIA aa. Succulent subacaulescent herbs (our species); leaves spiral; stipules lateral; plants monoecious; staminate and pistillate flowers minute, interspersed and immersed in a common discoid or radiate head. -. 16. DORSTENIA
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Note
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It is related to Perebea and Helicostylis, but is distinguished by the burr-like pistillate inflorescences and fruits; the heads are involucrate as in Perebea but the flowers epigynous and reduced in number as in Helicostylis. The East Indian and Micronesian genus Artocarpus is represented in cultivation by the breadfruit (A. communis Forst.) and the jackfruit (A. heterophyllus Lam.). Both are large and handsome shade trees and are monoecious, the staminate flowers in stout cylindrical spikes and the pistillate in great spherical or cylindrical heads somewhat reminiscent of the northern Osage orange [Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneid.] on a larger scale. The jackfruit has undivided leaves; breadfruit leaves are leathery, deep glossy green and incised like those of some monstrous oak. Breadfruit, which was the principal cargo of the ill-fated H.M.S. "Bounty" in 1789, still is an important article of food for many people in Panama, both for the starchy pulp of the fruit and for the large nut-like seeds of some varieties (breadnuts); by the Spanish-speaking people it is known as arbol de pan and fruta de pan. Jackfruits are edible but of inferior quality.
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