Native to the Malay Peninsula as well as Polynesia, it is now distributed in Polynesia, southern India, the Caribbean, and other tropical regions due to human spread.
The breadfruit tree is an evergreen tree, generally 10-15 meters high; up to more than 40 meters. The trunk is stout, and the bark is gray-brown and thick.
Roots
The plant contains white latex, with plate roots, thick in shape; in the young wood, the plate roots are not obvious, with the tree grows taller and thicker, the plate-like roots are gradually broadened and formed.
Leaves
opposite, thick leathery, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 10-50 cm long, mature leaves pinnatifid, both sides of the 3-8 pinnately parted, lobes lanceolate, apex acuminate, both surfaces glabrous, surface dark green, glossy, abaxially light green, entire, lateral veins about 10 pairs; petiole 8-12 cm long; stipules large, lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, 10-25 cm long, yellowish green, covered with gray. 25 cm, yellow-green, gray or brown flat-appressed pilose.
Flowers
Inflorescences solitary in leaf axils, male inflorescences oblong-cylindrical to long ellipsoid or clavate, 7-30 cm long, yellow, hairy, distal part 2-lobed, lobes lanceolate, 1 stamen, anthers ellipsoid; female perianth tubular, ovary ovoid, style long, stigma 2-lobed, cymosperm fruit obovoid or subglobose, L:W:W 1-4, 15-30 cm long, 8-15 cm in diam. 15 cm, green to yellow, surface with rounded verrucose projections, mature brown to black, soft, inner surface composed of creamy white fleshy perianth. [16]
Fruit
The breadfruit of the breadfruit tree is called the "polypody", a composite fruiting globe, plump and fleshy, with a small but large head, 10-20 centimeters in diameter, and angular verrucose projections; the small fruits contain a single hard, black, flattened seed each. On its branches, on the trunk up to the roots, can bear fruit, fruiting for nine months of the year. Each fruit is formed by an inflorescence of polyfloral fruit, the flesh is full, sweet flavor, very nutritious, containing a lot of starch and rich in vitamins A and B and a small amount of protein and fat.