Artocarpus blancoi (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Artocarpus blancoi (Elmer) Merr.

Protologue: Enum. Philipp. fl. pl. 2: 40 (1923).

Family: Moraceae

Synonyms

• Artocarpus communis J.R. Forster & G. Forster var. blancoi Elmer (1909),
• Artocarpus incisa L.f. var. blancoi Elmer ex Merr.

Vernacular names

• Philippines: tipolo (general), antipolo (Tagalog).

Distribution

Throughout the Philippines.

Uses

The wood is locally used as terap for light construction. Probably more important is the use as a fibre plant for the production of pulp and paper. The bast is made into weak ropes, which have, for instance, been used for yoking buffaloes. An extract of the bark has high antimicrobial activity.

Observations

• A medium-sized, evergreen, dioecious tree, up to 15(-30) m tall, bole up to 100 cm in diameter, exuding white latex when wounded.
• Leaves arranged spirally; blade ovate-elliptical, 20-60 cm × 20-40 cm, base cuneate to rounded, margin entire or pinnatifid with 1-3(-4) pairs of lateral lobes, apex acute, almost glabrous above, pubescent throughout below, with about 12 pairs of secondary veins, stipules amplexicaul.
• Inflorescence capitate, solitary, axillary; numerous flowers densely packed together, embedded in the receptacle, the perianth enclosing a single stamen or ovary, mixed with abundant stalked interfloral bracts; male head cylindrical, 10-21 cm × 1-2 cm, on a 17-37 mm long peduncle; female head with bifid styles.
• Fruit an ellipsoid syncarp, up to 10 cm × 6.5 cm, yellow-brown, covered with flexuous, tapering, obtuse processes ("spines") 8-15 mm long, with rough, inflated hairs, with scattered interfloral bracts and with numerous non-fleshy fruiting perianths with free proximal region.
• Seed (pericarp) ellipsoid, 12 mm × 9 mm.

A. blancoi occurs in lowland forest and thickets, in areas with a distinct dry season and an annual rainfall of 2000 mm or more. Rope made from the bast of old trees is reputedly stiff and durable, whereas that from young trees is more pliable. However, in Philippine studies in the 1910s, there was little difference in the tensile strength of dry rope made from old and young trees (367 and 356 kg per cm², respectively). Wet rope made from young bast had a tensile strength of 340 kg per cm²; that of old bast was not tested in a wet state. The elongation at break was 11% and 15% for dry and wet rope from young bast, respectively; rope from old bast was not tested. The ultimate fibres of the wood are (1.5-)1.7(-1.8) mm long and 29 Œºm wide, with a lumen width of 20 μm and cell walls 4.5 μm thick. An extract of the bark has shown high antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Selected sources

52, 175, 262, 544, 634. timbers

11, 19, 86, 93; 99, 115, 186. fibres

Main genus page

• Artocarpus (PROSEA Timbers)

Authors

M.S.M. Sosef (selection of timber species)

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch (fibres)