Trees or small trees, to 17 m tall, straight. Bark black to brown, longitudinally fissured. Branchlets cylindric, wrinkled, 2-3 mm thick, appressed puberulent, rapidly glabrescent. Stipules lanceolate, caducous. Petiole 0.5-2 cm; leaf blade oblong to ± orbicular [or ovate], 7-15 × 3-7 cm, leathery to thinly leathery, glabrous, abaxially pale green, adaxially dark green, young leaves with both surfaces black when dry, base cuneate, ± rounded, or blunt, margin entire or irregularly shallowly toothed, apex acute and mucronate to caudate; secondary veins 6-10 on each side of midvein, adaxially prominent. Male inflorescences capitate, obovoid, or oblong [or rodlike] 2.5-12 × 2.7-7 mm. Female inflorescences ± capitate [or ± globose]; peduncle 1.5-8 mm. Male flowers: calyx lobes 2-4, basally connate for 0.5-0.7 mm. Female flowers: calyx tubular; style exserted. Fruiting syncarp red, reddish orange, or yellow, brown when dry, ± globose, ca. (1.5-)5 cm in diam., fleshy, glabrous or sparsely covered with coarse pubescence; peduncle to 5 mm; bracts persistent. Drupes [1-6 or]10-15. Fl. Apr-May.

Artocarpus nitidus subsp. nitidus is restricted to the Philippines.

Mixed forests, forests; 200-300 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, S Hunan, S Yunnan [Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam].