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Cempedak air facts for kids

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Cempedak air
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Genus:
Artocarpus
Species:
teysmannii
Synonyms
  • Artocarpus peduncularis Kurz
  • Ficus ralumensis K.Schum.

Artocarpus teysmannii, also known as cempedak air in Malay and as tilap in Indonesia, is a species of flowering plant, a fruit tree in the fig family, that is native to Southeast Asia.


Description

The species grows as a monoecious tree to 45 m in height, with a bole of up to 7 m, small buttresses, and with white latex. The oval leaves are 15–35 cm long by 5–17 cm wide. The globular inflorescences occur in the leaf axils. The fruits are cylindrical or oblong syncarpous infructescences, 8.5–12 cm by 3–6 cm in diameter, covered by short, flexible, conical spines, and ripening brownish-yellow. The seeds are covered by an edible, sweet, white aril.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Sulawesi, the Sulu Archipelago and New Guinea, where it occurs naturally in lowland and hill mixed dipterocarp forest, as well as in swamp forest, up to an elevation of 1,000 m.

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