DECIDUOUS TREES. 



417 



French chateaux the black mulberry was always planted for their 

 benefit. The leaves are particularly agreeable to cattle, as well as 

 to silkworms. 



The species of mulberry are not numerous, but the varieties 

 are almost innumerable, though their differences are of little conse- 

 quence in decorative planting. 



THE AMERICAN RED MUL- FIG. 133. 



BERRY TREE, Morus rubra, is 

 sometimes called the Pennsyl- 

 vania mulberry. This is quite 

 the largest and finest ornamen- 

 tal tree of the genus. In the 

 forest it sometimes grows to 

 seventy feet in height, but in 

 open ground assumes a low- 

 spreading form of umbellifer- 

 'ous character, as indicated by 

 Fig. 133, which is a portrait of a good specimen at twenty-five or 

 thirty years of age. The leaves are quite large, 

 nearly equal to those of the catalpa, generally 

 heart-shaped, but often with two or three lobes, 

 as shown by Fig. 134, of a dark-green color, 

 thick texture, and rough surface. The fruit is 

 deep red, oblong, and of good flavor. The trunk of the tree has 

 deeply-furrowed bark, with a tinge of green in its color, and the 

 main branches have a rugged ramification like those of the oak. 

 The leaves make their appearance late in the spring, but, like those 

 of the horse-chestnut, develop with great luxuriance as soon as 

 they burst the bud, and then remain on the tree till killed by hard 

 frosts. They are not considered of any value for the silkworm. 



As an ornamental tree this mulberry is one of the most do- 

 mestic in expression, luxuriant in foliage, and noble in the distri- 

 bution of its lights and shadows among our medium-sized trees. 

 That it is a fruit-bearing tree is something against its tidiness, but 

 its fruit will assuredly pay for the extra care required to keep the 

 ground or lawn under it in cleanly condition. It does best in a 

 27 



FIG. 134. 



