MOBACEAE. 



101 



2. Morus nigra L. BLACK MUL- 

 BERRY. (Fig. 117.) A tree, up to 

 60 high, with puberulent twigs and 

 young foliage. Leaves thin, ovate, 

 2'-6' long, short-acuminate, serrate, 

 undivided or 2-3-lobed, rounded or 

 cordate at the base, becoming gla- 

 brous; petioles i-J as long as the 

 blades; staminate spikes cylindric, 

 5"-10" long, longer than the pe- 

 duncles; pistillate spikes oval, 2"- 

 4" long, shorter than the pubescent 

 peduncles; fruit oval-oblong, 5"- 

 10" long, black when mature. 



Thickets, roadsides and about 

 houses. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Flowers in spring. 



Morus multicaulis Perr., CHI- 

 NESE MULBERRY, was introduced 

 about 1841 for feeding silkworms; 

 it is a shrub or small tree with thin 

 nearly smooth lobed leaves, which 

 has not perpetuated itself. 



2. FICUS [Tourn.] L. 



Woody plants, mostly large trees, with milky sap, weak wood, and alter- 

 nate leaves with interpetiolar stipules. Flowers minute, wholly enclosed in 

 receptacles, the staminate with 1, 2 or 3 stamens with short, stout filaments, the 

 pistillate with a sessile 1-celled ovary, the style lateral. [Latin, fig.] Some 

 600 species, of tropical and warm regions, the following typical. 



1. Ficus Carica L. ED- 

 IBLE FIG. (Fig. 118.) A 

 shrub or small tree 6-18 

 tall, the stems sometimes 

 clustered. Leaf-blades very 

 scabrous-pubescent, firm, 

 leathery, suborbicular or 

 oval in outline, truncate or 

 cordate at the base, pal- 

 mately 5-7-lobed ; lobes 

 coarsely toothed or again 

 lobed ; petioles densely pu- 

 bescent, about i as long as 

 the blades; fruit obovoid, 

 l'-3V long. 



Spontaneous after culti- 

 vation. Introduced. Native 

 of the Mediterranean Region. 

 Widely cultivated in warm re- 

 gions for its valuable fruit, 

 and early brought to Ber- 

 muda and extensively grown 

 for its fruit up to a recent 

 period. 



