The Trees of Vermont 137 



URTICACEAE 



Red Mulberry 

 Morus rubra L. 



Habit. — A small tree 15-20 feet high, with a short trunk 10-15 

 inches in diameter ; forming a dense, rough-topped crown of stout, 

 spreading branches and more or less zigzag, slender branchlets. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, nearly as broad ; out- 

 line variable, ovate to semiorbicular, often 3-5-lobed; coarsely serrate; 

 thin ; dark blue-green and smooth or rough above, pale and more or 

 less downy beneath; petioles 1-2 inches long, smooth, exuding a milky 

 juice when cut. 



Flowers. — May, with the leaves ; monoecious or dioecious ; the 

 staminate in dense spikes 1-2 inches long, on short, hairy peduncles ; 

 the pistillate in dense spikes about 1 inch long, on short, hairy pedun- 

 cles ; calyx 4-lobed, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 4, with green anthers; 

 stigmas 2, spreading. 



Fruit. — July; 1 inch long; consisting of drupes about %2 "ich 

 long, each inclosed in a thickened, fleshy calyx; berry-like; bright red 

 at first, finally blackish; sweet, juicy, edible. 



Winter-buds. — Terminal bud absent ; lateral buds ovoid, abruptly 

 pointed, ^ inch long, lustrous, light brown. 



Bark. — Twigs greenish and more or less downy, becoming smooth 

 and brownish ; trunk dark brown tinged with red and more or less 

 furrowed. 



Wood. — Light, soft, weak, rather tough, coarse-grained, very 

 durable, pale orange, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 



Distribution. — Rare ; reported from Pownal and North Pownal 

 in the Hoosic valley. 



Habitat. — Prefers rich soil in river-bottoms ; rich woods. 



Notes. — The name mulberry is applied very commonly in Ver- 

 mont to one of the wild raspberries, which has a conspicuous rose-like 

 blossom followed by a reddish raspberry fruit. This shrub should be 

 called the purple flowering raspberry since the true mulberries are 

 trees. Two species of mulberry occur in Vermont ; of these, the red is 

 native, and the white is introduced, and occasionally is an escape. The 

 fruit of both is edible, somewhat resembling that of the blackberry in 

 size and appearance. The leaves are heart-shaped or ovate, often cut 

 into curiously irregular lobes so that no two leaves on a branch will 

 be exactly alike. This irregularity in leaf-form, together with the 

 peculiar fruit, makes the recognition of the mulberry easy. Often it 

 is difficult to distinguish the two species. 



