Ladybirds are the gardener’s friend

By John Warrington

It is hard to believe that despite promises from various friends I have still not acquired a plant of the Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis, which used to be A communis). This splendid tree came to the West Indies in 1793 on the good ship Providence, first to Jamaica and St Vincent, both of which had well-established botanical gardens. (Every child of school age throughout the West Indies must have been told about Captain Bligh’s unsuccessful attempt on the HMS Bounty to bring the fruits home because of the infamous mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, who dumped the first trees overboard, and sent its Captain off in a small boat.) The mainly seedless fruit really never caught on in the West Indies. The female variety produces seeds (called breadnuts) embedded in the pulp of the fruit which are absolutely delicious when boiled or roasted and then eaten. For me, however, the main beauty of the tree is its leaves and its stature when it is mature. It has large, glossy, dark-green leaves which can be up to two feet long and a foot