Available for curbside pick-up only.

Tree Description: Medium sized tree to 20-50ft. It is usually fairly slow-growing. The tree is very ornamental, with pretty, glossy green leaves. The bark contains a milky latex. Male and female flowers are borne on the same tree. Fruits ripen in late summer and early fall, and often ripen seedless.

Fruit size, normally 5-7cm in diameter, depends on the effectiveness of pollination; similarly fruit shape can be irregular if pollination is only partial. Like the jackfruit, the fruit is a syncarp. When ripe, skin colour is yellow and pulp is orange-red with a pleasant sub-acid flavour. Fruit must be completely ripe. Unripe fruits produce white, sticky latex. Ripening happens quickly, in 1 to 3 days.

Scientific Name: Artocarpus hypargyraeus

Common Name: Silver-back Artocarpus and Sweet Artocarpus.

Family: Moraceae 

Relatives: Jackfruit and Breadfruit

Origin: China

Distribution/History: The kwai muk is from China, where its native range includes southern Kwangtung Province, Hainan Island and Hong Kong. It has been introduced to other areas of the tropics, primarily in botanical gardens and experiment stations, but is not well known outside its native area.

The kwai muk was first introduced to Florida in 1927 (1), but is still little-known or planted here. The tree has attributes which recommend it for cultivation in home gardens in the state. The purpose of this paper is to describe the kwai muk and bring it to the attention of growers of tropical fruit in Florida and elsewhere.

Importance: The fruit must be completely ripe for fresh consumption; unripe fruit exudes a white, sticky latex when the skin is broken. The ripe fruit has an excellent flavor and is good for fresh consumption in the local production area. The fruit has best quality when ripened on the tree, but it also can be harvested in the mature green stage and ripened at room temperature. Mature-green fruit ripens in 1-3 day, so shipping would be difficult. No experiments have been reported on storage of this fruit.

The fruit can be preserved with salt, with sugar syrup or by drying. The dried fruit has a good texture and flavor