''Artocarpus anisophyllus'', the entawak or mentawa, is a tropical tree in the

Moraceae Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...

. It is native to the central parts of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and is present in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and the intervening islands. It is called popwan in

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It bears round, 3–4 inch long, brownish yellow fruit. The entawak's flesh is orange-red and may taste like a pumpkin in flavor, while it also has edible seeds which are commonly roasted and salted to be eaten. Rarely cultivated in its native range, it is a large rainforest tree growing up to 45 metres. The fruit is eaten fresh and its propagation is by seed. It is a distant relative to the wellknown

jackfruit The jackfruit or ''nangka'' (''Artocarpus heterophyllus'') is a species of tree in the Common fig, fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as in weight, in length, and in d ...

and

breadfruit Breadfruit (''Artocarpus altilis'') is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family ( Moraceae) believed to have been selectively bred in Polynesia from the breadnut ('' Artocarpus camansi''). Breadfruit was spread into ...

, besides the tasty tarap fruit to which it is closely related. It is propagated by seeds, grafting and cuttings besides other viable methods. While it grows exceedingly well in tropical climates, it is not as well-adapted to subtropical climates. When grown from seed the germination may take 1–3 months and it will probably bear fruit within 8–9 years. It cannot survive temperatures below and requires temperatures higher than to flourish.

Gallery

Terap Ikal (Artocarpus anisophyllus) (8082546991).jpg, foliage Rainforest Discovery Centre Sepilok 20190708 062944 (1).jpg, foliage and fruit Artocarpus anisophyllus fruit, Desa Kebadu, Kecamatan Balai, Kabupaten Sanggau - West Kalimantan.jpg, collected fruit

References

anisophyllus Trees of Peninsular Malaysia Trees of Sumatra Trees of Borneo Taxa named by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel Plants described in 1861 Austronesian agriculture {{Moraceae-stub

Gallery

See also

References