244 



URTICACE^ 



MORUS. —Mulberry. 



Morus rubra Linnc. — Red Mulberry. 



Description. — Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Staminate flowers in 

 drooping axillary sjoikes ; calyx 4-23arted ; stamens 4. Pistillate flowers 

 in dense, ovate, erect spikes ; caljrs; of 4 sepals ; ovary 2-celled, one of the 

 cells disappearing during tlie development of the fruit ; styles 2, filiform. 

 "When ripe each ovary is an achenium covered by the succulent calyx, the 

 whole fertile spike becoming a dark-purple, juicy fruit resembling a black- 

 berry. 



A small tree 20 to 30 feet high. Leaves alternate, ovate, cordate, 

 pointed, serrate, rough above, downy beneath ; those of the young shoots 

 sometimes 2- to 3-lobed. The flowers appear in May ; the berries are ripe 

 in July ; they are about an inch long, and have an agreeable sweetish and 

 acidulous taste. 



Habitat. — In rich woods from New England to Illinois and southward. 



Part Used.— The fruit- 

 not official. 



Constituents. — G 1 u c o s e , 

 free acid, and mucilaginous 

 matter. 



Preparations. — Commonly 

 used in the form of a syrup 

 or expressed juice. 



Medical Properties and 

 Uses. — Mulberries are shght- 

 ly laxative, and their mildly 

 acid properties render them 

 cooling and refreshing. They 

 are chiefly employed in the 

 preparation of refrigerant 

 drinks in acute febrile and 

 inflammatory affections. 



' I 



i 



URTICA.— Nettle. 



Character of the Genus. — 

 Flowers monoecious or dioeci- 

 ous, in axillary clusters or 

 Fig. i53.-urtica dioica. spikcs. Staminate flowers; 



stamens 4, inserted around the rudiment of a pistil. Pistillate flowers ; 

 sepals 4, in pairs, the outer pair smaller, spreading, the inner, in fruit, en- 

 closing the achenium. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with stinging hau's. Leaves opposite, stip- 

 idate. Flowers greenish. 



