420 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



THE MARANG 

 (Artocarpus odoratissima, Blanco) 



The marang has been brought recently to the attention of 

 horticulturists by P. J. Wester, who considers it a fruit of un- 

 usual promise. It resembles the jackfruit and the seeded 

 breadfruit in appearance, but is superior in quality to 

 either of these. The tree, which grows wild in the southern 

 Philippine Islands and the Sulu Archipelago, is medium-sized, 

 with large, dark green entire or three-lobed leaves 18 to 24 

 inches long. Wester describes the fruit as roundish oblong in 

 form, about 6 inches in length, with the surface thickly studded 

 with soft greenish yellow spines ^ inch long. The rind is thick 

 and fleshy, the flesh white, sweet, and juicy, aromatic and of 

 pleasant flavor; it is separated into segments (about the size 

 of a grape) which cling to the core, and each segment contains 

 a whitish seed nearly \ inch long. " When the fruit is ripe, by 

 passing a knife around and through the rind, with a little care 

 the halves may be separated from the flesh, leaving this like 

 a bunch of white grapes." In the Philippines it ripens in August. 



The tree is strictly tropical in its requirements and probably 

 will not succeed in regions where the temperature falls below 

 32 or 35 above zero. It likes a moist atmosphere and abun- 

 dant rainfall. The marang has been introduced into the 

 United States, but does not promise well either in Florida or in 

 California. 



