MORRENIA 



MORUS 



1033 



Cynanchum) and the tubular corona, which is longer 

 than the pistils, villose on the inside, and conniving 

 over the pistils. The Ivs. are opposite and hastate. M. 

 odorata, Lindl., is offered by Franceschi. S. Calif. It 

 has white fragrant fls. in dense cymes in the axils. De 

 scribed by Lindley as long ago as 1838. but appears 

 never to have been brought into cultivation. Franceschi 

 says it is "a noble vine; foliage very distinct." .Argen- 

 tine and Paraguay. 



of 



1424. 

 Staminate fl( 

 Russian Mulberry, 

 Enlarged 



of 



1425. 

 Pistillate flowi 

 Russian Mulberry 

 Enlarged 



MORTTS (the ancient Latin name). Urficiiceie or 

 Mordcew. Mulberry. About 100 species of Mulberry 

 have been described, b>it the latest monographer (Bu- 

 reau, D(J. Prodr. 17:237 [1873|) reduces them to 5. 

 Some of the names are now referred to other genera. 

 Many of the names represent cultural forms of 31. alba. 

 Mulberries are grown as food for silkworms and for the 

 edible fruits. The silkworm Mulberry of history is M. 

 alba, and the fruit-bearing Mulberry of history is M. 

 nii/ra. Yet, strangely enough, the leading fruit-bearing 

 varieties of North America are derived from M. alba 

 (see Bailey, Bull. 41, Cornell E.\p. Sta., and "Evolution 

 of Our Native Fruits"). The native M. rubra has also 

 given varieties which are grown for their fruits. Tlie 

 silkworm Mulberry of the Chinese is M. innlticauli.i, by 

 some considered to be a form of 3/. alba. This was intro- 

 duced into North America early in the century, and for a 

 time there was the wildest speculation in the selling and 

 planting of the Mulberry tree, and in the rearing of 

 silkworms. These efforts have now largely passed away 

 in North America. M. mnlticanlis gave rise to one va- 

 riety which was prized for its fruits, the Downing. This 

 variety is now little known, but the name has been pop- 

 ularly but erroneously transferred to a good variety of 

 M.alha (the New American) . 



The Mulberries are trees of the temperate regions of 

 the Old and New World. The genus Morns usually has 

 monoecious flowers, both sexes being in small hanging 

 axillary catkins, the males soon falling (Figs. 1422-23). 

 The calyx is 4-parted : stamens 4, the filaments partially 

 inclosed in the calyx-lobes (Fig. 1424). In the pistillate 

 flower there is one ovary with 2 stigmas, and the 4 calyx- 

 lobes are adherent to the ovary (Fig. 1425). The pistil- 

 late flowers become fleshy and cohere 

 into a long multiple fruit which sug- 

 gests a blackberry in external appear- 

 ance (Fig. 1420). 



In North America the Mulberry is 

 known chiefly as a fruit-bearing tree, 

 .ilthough it is never planted exten- 

 sively and the fruit is scarcely known 

 in the market. Two or three trees 

 about the home grounds are suflicient 

 to supply a family. The fruits are 

 sweet and soft. To many people they 

 :ire too sweet. Because of their sweet- 

 ness they are of little value for culi- 

 nary uses. They usually drop when 

 ripe. They are harvested by being 

 shaken on sheets or straw. Birds are 

 exceedingly fond of them. In the 

 East and North, varieties of M. alba 

 are chiefly grown, as the New Ameri- 

 can ( Downing of most present nurser- 

 ies), Thorburn and Trowbridge. On the Pacific coast 

 and in some iiarts of the South, varieties of M. niqra- 

 are grown, particularly the Black Persian. In parts of 

 the South forms of the native M. rubra are grown, as 

 Hicks and Stubbs. These are popular for planting in 

 hog pastures, as the animals like the fruits. The Mul- 

 berry thrives in any garden soil. It does well even on 



1426. Fruit of 

 Moras alba. 

 Natural size. 



thin gravels and rocky slopes. For fruit-bearing pur- 

 poses, trees may be planted from 20 to 40 feet apart. 



The Russian Mulberries are offshoots of M. alba. 

 Their particular merits are great hardiness to withstand 

 cold, drought and neglect. They are useful for low 

 wind-breaks and also for sheared hedges. They have 

 become popular on the plains. They are readily propa- 

 gated by seeds, and the resulting plants are variable. 

 Now aud then a large-fruited form appears and it may 

 be named and propagated, but for the most part the 

 Russian Mulberry has little merit for its fruits unless 

 one desires to feed the birds. 



Varieties of Mulberries are now mostly worked on 

 seedlings of the Russian. One of the most successful 

 grafts is S. D.Willard's method, shown in Fig. 1427. The 

 grafting is performed in spring when the bark will slip, 

 using cions which have been kept perfectly dormant or 

 on ice. a is the cion, the lower part being cut thin so 

 that it will enter readily between the bark and wood of 

 the stock. 6 is the stock, with an incision made through 

 the bark essentially as for shield-budding, c shows the 

 graft bound with raffia, d shows the completed opera- 

 tion, the work being covered with grafting wax. Morris 

 multicaulU grows from cuttings in the South. These 

 cuttings, with the buds removed to prevent sprouting, 

 are often grafted before they are planted with a long 

 cion of the desired variety (see Fig. 941). The cut- 

 ting acts as a nurse, and the cion takes root of itself 

 if set deep enough. 



There are many Mulberries with ornamental forms. 

 Of these, the most popular in America at present is 

 Teas' Weeping, a chance seedling of the Russian Mul- 



1427. A method of eraftine the Mulberry. 



o, the cion; b, matrix to receive cion; c, the graft tied; 



d, the graft waxed. 



berry tribe. When grafted .several feet high on straight 

 Russian stock, it makes one of the best of small wee^)- 

 ing lawn trees (Fig. 1428). It originated on the grounds 

 of -John C. Teas, Carthage, Mo., about 1883. Various 

 cut-leaved forms, mostly of M. alba, are seen in fine 

 collections, of which the form known as M. nervosa 

 (Fig. 1429) is one of the best. The foliage of Mulber- 

 ries is interesting because so variable. Even on the 

 same tree there may be leaves of several forms, while 

 different trees of the same species may show strong in- 

 dividual traits. The most striking variations are in the 

 lobing of the leaves. 



A. Li's. mostly bright and glabrous above, a7id vsiialli/ 

 glossy. 

 B. Style very short or practically none. 

 4Iba, Linn. White Mri.HERnv. Figs. 1430, 1432 B. 

 Lvs. light green, rather sitiaii. siiiuoth or very nearly so 

 above and often sliining, the veins prominent beneath 

 and whitish, variously lobed or divided, the basal lobes 

 unequal, the teeth large and for the most part rounded 

 or nearly obtuse, the branches gray or grayish yellow: 

 fr. variable, usually narrow, 1-2 in. long, white or violet, 

 very sweet. China. — J/on(.s alba has been cultivated 

 from the earliest times, chiefly for feeding the silk 

 worm. It is a frequent tree along roadsides and in the 

 old yards in the eastern states, where the trunk some- 

 times attains a diameter of two feet. This half-wild 

 form usually has rather small rounded shining leaves 

 with very large rounded teeth, and bears little whitish 

 or violet fruits, which are very sweet. Sometimes the 



