Moj'iis 7' libra. 



THE RED-FRUITED MULBERRY-TREE. 



Synonymes. 



Morus rubra, 



Murier rouge, 

 Rother Maulbeerbaum, 

 IVlaro rosso, 



Red Mulberry-tree, Virginian Mulberry- 

 vree, 



LiNNXus, Species Plantarum. 



RLcHAUX, North American Sylva. 



Loudon, Arboretum Britaimicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



Britain and Anglo- America. 



Derivations. The specific name ruftrn ia deriveil from the Latin ruber, red; having reference to llie colour of the fruit oi 

 this species. The other names have the same signification as the botanical one, except Virginian Mulberry, which ia so called 

 because this tree was originally found in great abundance in the colony of Virginia. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. U6; Loudon, Arboretum Brilannicum, vii., pi. 227; and ihe figures 

 below. 



Specific Characters. Sexes polygamous, or dioecious. Spikes of female flowers cylindrical. Catkins of 

 male flowers of the length of those of the Betiila alba. Leaves heart-shaped, ovate, acuminate, 3-lobed, 

 or palmate ; serrated with equal teeth, rough, somewhat villous ; under surface very tomenlobe, and 

 soft. 



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>S, 



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Description. 



pSS^^^HE Morus rubra, when 



ir' ^ growing in its native 



J 1^ forests, among other 



Sc*^^^^ trees, sometimes attains 

 a height of sixty or seventy feet, wifh a trunk two i^/'cplZ >\^/^i!^ o^-^'" 

 feet in diameter; but, in open situations, its v^\-y^S^Xv^ 

 stature is low, and the thickness of the stem pro- 

 portionably increased. Tlie bark of the trunk of , , 



old trees is of a grayish colour, and is more deeply ^^^^^jr^S^ 

 furrowed than that of the oak. The leaves, vvx/^lVitV 

 which are often nine or ten inches in length, 

 and three-fourths as broad as they are long, are XSa 

 sometimes entire, and at others divided into two 

 or three lobes, rounded, corditorm, denticulated, 

 of a dark glossy-green colour, with a thick 

 texture, and a rough, uneven surface. The 

 sexes are usually separate, though they are 

 sometimes found on the same trees, which, it is 

 even stated, vary in their sexes every year. The male llowers, wliich put forth 

 in Pennsylvania in May, form pendulous, cylindrical aintMits. about an iiifli in 

 length; but those of the opposite sex are small, and scarcely apparent. The 

 fruit, which is generally of a tlccp-red colour, is of an oblong form, an aurceahle, 

 acidulous, sugary taste, and is composed by the luuon of a great nimiber of 

 small utriculi, each of which contains a minute seed. 



Varieties. The Morus rubra appears to have the same tendency to sport, and 

 form new varieties or races, as its eastern congeners, the white, and blaek-lVuited 

 species. The following variations we insert principally on the authoruv of Kaf- 



58 



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