
Jackfruit, Breadfruit: Somewhat out of scale, a bit messy, and not everyone’s favorite, it is still true that many people have found these two Artocarpus fruit to be life-giving. They seem to support limitless uses, from the raw and ripe attractions of Jackfruit, to a meatiness of its green and roasted character. Breadfruit takes well to baking and roasting, and seems to satisfy a lot of people when treated this way. You’ll need to seek out a specialty market, or head to Tropical Asia to run into this complex fruit. Given a Breadfruit or Jackfruit, a Botanist would immediately look around for Figs, Mulberries, and Hops as the nearest relatives. Of course, stepping just a shade outside the Fig family, you’d encounter another near relative, Marijuana.

A Morphologist would call this a Compound Fruit, in that (like a Pineapple) it includes fruit of many flowers, and a whole bunch of ancillary components. Formally, therefore, it is a Sorosus.
It is Breadfruit we recall in the misfortune of Captain Bligh and his ship, the Bounty. Having waylaid in Tahiti for five months as rooted Breadfruit trees grew large enough for a voyage to the Caribbean (where they were to provide food for slaves), Bligh’s 1789 voyage continued. But things turned fowl soon, and the crew mutinied, setting Bligh and other officers off on a small boat to find their way home.