Scientific Name : Artocarpus hypargyreus Hance ex Benth.
Common Name : Silver-back Artocarpus, Sweet Artocarpus
Chinese Name : 白桂木
Family : MORACEAE
Local distribution status : Native species
| Origins | Native to Hong Kong, Silver-back Artocarpus is also distributed in some provinces of China, including Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian. |
|---|---|
| Vitality | Silver-back Artocarpus grows well in mildly acid sandy soils and prefers an environment with full sun to partial shade. |
| Ecology | Silver-back Artocarpus usually grows in low-altitude areas between 160-1630 m, particularly in evergreen broad-leaved forests. They also grow in Hügelland and Fung Shui Woods. |
| Application | Its timber can be used for furniture, hard rubber can be extracted from its latex. Its fruit can be eaten. |
| Meanings of name | The genus name is a blend of the Greek words ‘artos’, meaning bread, and ‘karpós’ (carpus), meaning fruit, which implies Breadfruit. Around 1850, a British diplomat Henry Fletcher Hance collected a type specimen of Artocarpus hypargyreus from Hong Kong Island. This species is listed in Rare and Precious Plants of Hong Kong and rated as Near Threatened (NT). Additionally, it has been recorded in the Illustrations of Rare and Endangered Plants in Guangdong Province. |
| Moraceae |
Silver-back Artocarpus (Artocarpus hypargyreus) and Lingnan Artocarpus (Artocarpus nitidus subsp. lingnanensis): Both trees are members of the genus Artocarpus. They can be distinguished by their barks and leaves. The bark of Silver-back Artocarpus is dark purple and peels off in flakes, while the bark of Lingnan Artocarpus is black to brown and longitudinally fissured. The leaf of Silver-back Artocarpus is glabrous adaxially, with a rough, powdery white tomentum on midvein. In contrast, both leaf surfaces of Lingnan Artocarpus are glabrous. Additionally, the reticulate veins on the abaxial leaf of Silver-back Artocarpus are prominently raised compared to those of Lingnan Artocarpus. |
| Growing habit | Large evergreen tree. |
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| Height | To 25 m tall. |
| Stem | Bark dark purple, peeling off in flakes. Branchlets covered with white puberulent when young. |
| Leaves | Leaves alternate. Blade leathery, oblong, elliptic to obovate, apex narrow acuminate, base cuneate, margin entire or slightly sinuate-toothed, pinnately divided when young. Glabrous and shiny adaxially, rough with powdery white tomentum abaxially. |
| Flower | Monoecious. Head solitary, axillary. Male heads ellipsoid to obovoid, peduncles pubescent. Male flowers: calyx lobes 4, spatulate, densely pubescent, adnate to clavate or subpeltate bracts, stamen 1, anther ellipsoid. Female heads rather smaller, perianth densely hairy, style shortly protruding. |
| Fruit | Syncarps subglobose, yellowish to orange, brown pubescent, slightly papillary on surfaces, shortly pubescent. |
| Flowering period | May to August in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | June to August in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website:
https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=9207
https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=8849
Scientific Names from Other Databases
―Flora of China: Artocarpus hypargyreus Hance
―GBIF: Artocarpus hypargyreus Hance ex Benth.