Silviculture of Trees Artocarpus Lakoocha (Badahar)
• Domain:
Eukaryota
• Kingdom:
Plantae
• Phylum:
Spermatophyta
• Subphylum:
Angiospermae
• Class:
Dicotyledonae
• Order:
Urticales
• Family:
Moraceae
• Genus:
Artocarpus
• Species:
Artocarpus lakoocha
Morphology
- Tree
form: Lakoocha is a deciduous tree, 10-15 m tall. Branchlets are 3-6
mm thick, densely covered with stiff pale brown to yellow velvety hairs.
- Leaf:
Alternately arranged, Elliptical leaves,2-3 cm long stalks, Leaves are large, 25-30 cm long, 15-20 cm wide, base wedge-shaped, tip blunt. Leaf
margin is entire.
- Flower:
Flowers appear on the leafless branch, unisexual-male and female, Male flowers are yellow-orange while the female is reddish. Male flower is
usually, fall to the ground soon after they appear.
- Fruit:
Fruit is a syncarp (the entire female inflorescence forms a fruit),
fleshy, irregularly rounded, green when young, turning yellow at the time
of maturity, Diameter is typically 5-10 cm, weights 200-350 g, 10-30 seeds
per fruit.
- Seed:
More or less flattened and pointed at the embryo end, seeds are irregular and Contain sticky white latex within a thin and white seed coat. Most seeds are about one cm long at
maturity.
- Bark: The bark is dark brown, exfoliating in small, round, woody peels, reddish
inside.
Phenology
- Leaf
Fall: Early February to the beginning of the March
- Flowering:
April to May
- Fruit
Ripen: End of June to early August
- Seed
collection: July to August
- Seed
sowing: all year round > only fresh seeds germinate reliably
Geographic Distribution
- Altitude:
150-1600 m from MSL
- Mean
annual temperature: 17-24° C
- Mean
annual rainfall: 700-2000 mm
- Soil
type: It prefers deep permeable soils.
- Native
countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
Economic importance
• Timber
is used for house construction work, medium-weight furniture, boat building,
cabinet works, and decorative purposes and local fuel.
• Bark
contains soluble tannin 8.5% and can be
used for tanning purposes and also used
to treat skin ailments.
• The
wood and roots yield a lavish color dye.
• Fruit
is highly nutritious and used as raw materials for pharmaceuticals.
• Root
is astringent and used as a purgative.
• Wood
is durable, hard, suitable for polishing and resistant to termites.
• It
produces highly valuable forage and have a production rate of about 60-200 kgs
per year.
Regeneration
• Both
natural and artificial.
• Natural
regeneration from seeds dispersed by
birds and animals.
• Artificial
regeneration by direct sowing, cuttings, air layering, and root suckers.
• Seed
collection time: late June-early august
• 1900
to 5000 seeds per kg
• Seed
Extraction: Flesh should be removed from the seed before they are sown.
• Recalcitrant
seed
• Seed
lose their viability within few days (2 days). Fruits were collected just
before maturity and stored at 4 ̊C.
• Elevation
< 1500m : germination begins about 2 weeks and is completed 1-2 weeks
later, > 1500m: takes a longer period
• Germination
percentage: 80% from fresh seed
• Nursery
period: for seedling: 11 months after sowing, at the beginning of rains
• Best
planting size: seedling will be 25-35cm in height with 5 to 7mm root collar
diameter.
• Susceptible
to damage by Alternaria tenuis
Silviculture characteristics
• Light
demander.
• Frost
hardy
• Large
deciduous tree with spreading crown and clear straight bole.
• Grows
best on deep permeable soils with a good supply of moisture often occurs on
the bank of the river.
• Coppices
well
• Mostly
occurred in Sal forest.
• Young
plants are liable to damage by browsing animals.
References
• Joshee,
N., D.R. Bastola, V.P. Agarwal, and A.K. Yadav (2002). Lakoocha: A multipurpose
tree of warm climate. P.405-406.
• Thakur,
R., Phulara, N. (2014). A compendium of tree species of Nepal, (1-375).
• Hossain
,M., Islam, M.A. (2016). “ Nutritional value and medicinal uses of Monkey jack
fruit (Artocarpus lakoocha)”. International Research Journal of
Biological Sciences, 5(1), 60-63.
nice article 👏
ReplyDeleteGood one👍️
ReplyDeleteGood job
ReplyDeleteNicely presented
ReplyDeleteKeep it up