Where does jackfruit grow on the tree?

The huge fruits grow directly from the trunk and thick branches (cauliflory), which helps the tree bear their great weight.

What is the difference between raw and ripe jackfruit?

Unripe (raw) jackfruit is cooked as a savoury vegetable and meat substitute, while ripe jackfruit is sweet and eaten as fruit.

✿Moraceae · Artocarpus

Katahal / Jack Fruit Tree

Artocarpus heterophyllus

TreeMedicinal

Habit: Tree
Found in India: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala & more
Flowering: November-July

Identify this plant with SASYA

How to identify Katahal

Identify Katahal by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.

Look for a tree habit.
Check the distinctive field mark: Massive spiny fruit growing on trunk (jackfruit).
Confirm leaf shape: Elliptic (widest at middle).
Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
Use the leaf pattern: alternate leaf arrangement, simple leaves, entire leaf margins, pinnate venation.
In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: November-July.
In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and nearby regions.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Artocarpus heterophyllus
Genus: Artocarpus
Family: Moraceae
Habit: Tree
Habitat: Cultivated in most parts of the world. Evergreen and semi-Evergreen forests
Habitat type: Forest, Cultivated
Distribution: Widely cultivated throughout tropics
Found in India: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Lakshadweep, Sikkim
Flowering & fruiting: November-July
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf shape: Elliptic (widest at middle)recorded
Leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded

Typical of the family

Arrangement: Alternate
Type: Simple
Margin: Entire
Venation: Pinnate

Characters marked “recorded” are for Katahal itself; the rest are typical of the Moraceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower symmetry: Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
Inflorescence: Catkin
Fruit: Drupe

Typical of the Moraceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.

Local Names

Hindi: कटहल Katahal, कठल Kathal, kathal
Nepali: रुख कटहर, रूखकटहर
Bengali: কাঁঠাল Kathal, কাঁঠাল, কাঠাল
Tamil: பலா Palaa, பலா, பலா மரம்
Telugu: పనస Panas, పనస, పనస పండు
Kannada: ಹಲಸು Halasu, ಹಲಸಿನ ಹಣ್ಣು Halasina hannu, ಹಲಸು
Malayalam: ചക്ക Chakka, പിലാവ്, പ്ലാവ്
Marathi: फणस Phanas, फणस
Sanskrit: panasa
Sinhala: කොස්

Katahal in India

Jackfruit grows the largest fruit of any tree, borne straight on the trunk — कटहल Katahal (Hindi), பலா Palaa (Tamil), పనస Panas (Telugu), ಹಲಸು Halasu (Kannada), ചക്ക Chakka (Malayalam), फणस Phanas (Marathi). Artocarpus heterophyllus is grown across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, especially in the humid south and east, and is Kerala's state fruit.

Uses

The ripe fruit's sweet golden bulbs are eaten fresh; the unripe green fruit (kathal) is cooked as a much-loved vegetable and increasingly as a meat substitute. The seeds are boiled or roasted, and the strong yellow wood is valued for furniture and instruments.

How to Identify Katahal

A large evergreen with dark, glossy, leathery leaves and a milky latex. The enormous green fruit — covered in short blunt spines and often longer than a forearm — grows directly from the trunk and main branches (cauliflory).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Jack Fruit Tree called in different Indian languages?: कटहल Katahal (Hindi); பலா Palaa (Tamil); పనస Panas (Telugu); ಹಲಸು Halasu (Kannada); ചക്ക Chakka (Malayalam); फणस Phanas (Marathi); কাঁঠাল Kathal (Bengali); panasa (Sanskrit).
Where does jackfruit grow on the tree?: The huge fruits grow directly from the trunk and thick branches (cauliflory), which helps the tree bear their great weight.
What is the difference between raw and ripe jackfruit?: Unripe (raw) jackfruit is cooked as a savoury vegetable and meat substitute, while ripe jackfruit is sweet and eaten as fruit.

Botanical family

Moraceae

Fig/Mulberry family

Katahal belongs to the Moraceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

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Common plant problems

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Sources: GBIF — Artocarpus heterophyllus (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Artocarpus heterophyllus (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Artocarpus heterophyllus (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)