638 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



Natural Order 212. Horaces. — The Mulberry Order. — 

 Trees or shrubs with a milky juice. Leaves with large 



Fiq. 1007. Fig. 1008. ^^'V^^^\- Flo'vers unisexual, 



" m heads, spikes, or catkins. 



Male flowers with a 3 — 4- 

 partite calyx, {fig. 1007), 

 or achlamydeous. Stamens 

 3 — 4, perigynous {fig. 1007), 

 and opposite the segments 

 of the calyx. Female flowers 

 with 3 — 4 — 5 sepals. Ovary 

 superior 1 — 2-celled. Fruit 

 a sorosis {fig. 101), or 



Fig. 1007. Male flower of the Black Mul- svCOnUS { fiqs. 383 and 384), 



berry, {Mums nigra) Fig. 1008. Ver- C' j i-r j i / ^ 



tical section of tlie ovary in the female oeerf solitary, penduIOUS {fig. 



flower of the same. 1008); e7nbri/o hooked {fig. 



1008), in fleshy albumen, and with a superior radicle. 



Distribution, Sfc. — They are natives of both hemispheres, and 

 occur both in temperate and tropical climates. Examples : — 

 Morus, Broussonetia, Madura, Ficus, Dorstenia. From the in- 

 vestigations of Gasparrini, Miquel, and others, it would appear 

 that there are about 22 genera, and nearly 200 species. 



Properties and Uses. — The milky juice of some species pos- 

 sesses acrid and poisonous properties, while in others it is bland, 

 and may be taken as a beverage. From the milky juice of some, 

 caoutchouc is obtained. The inner bark of some species supplies 

 fibres. Some possess stimulant, sudorific, tonic, and astringent 

 properties. Many yield edible fruits, while the seeds generally 

 of the plants of this order are wholesome. 



Morus. — The fruit of Morus nigra is our common Mulberry. It is called a 

 sorosis. Mulberries are employed medicinally for their refrigerant and slightly 

 laxative properties, and also to give colour and flavour to other medicines. 

 The Sycamine tree of the Bible is suiposed to be this plant. The leaves 

 of this species, as well as those of the Morus alha. White Mulberry, and 

 others, are in common use as a food for siik-wonns. The roots of both M. 

 nigra and alba are said to be- cathartic and anthelmintic. 



Broussonetia papi/rifera. the I'aper Mulberry, is so named from its inner 

 bark being used in China, Japan, A-c, for the manufacture of a kind of paper. 

 The Otaheitans, &c. also make a kind of cloth from it. 



Madura, — The wood of jV. tinctoria, a native of the West Indies and South 

 America, is of a golden-yellow colour, and is much employed in this country 

 and elsewhere as a dyeing agent. It is known as Fustic or Old Fustic, to dis- 

 tinguish it from Yoing Fustic already noticed. (See Rhus.) The fruit is 

 edible. M. aurautiaca supplies the fruit called Osage Orange, the juice of 

 which is used by the native tribes in some districts of America as a yellow 

 war paint. 



Ficns — This genus has recently been divided into a number of divisions, but 

 we shall give the former names as well as those now proposed. F. Carica 

 yields the well-known fruit named the Fig. This fruit is termed a syconus. 

 Figs are nutritive, emollitnt, (lemulcent, and laxative, and are frequently em- 

 ployed in medicine. The Fig tree is the Tcenah of the Bil)le. F. elastica 

 (Urostignia elasticum, or Macroplhabna elastica oi\some. authors), yields an 

 inferior kiiid ot ciuiutclx uc. It is a native of India. This caoutchouc is rarely 

 used in this (ountry. Various other species yield a similar substance. The 

 juice of F. toxicaria and Da:mona is a very powerful poison. F. St/camurus 



