;i2 



THE NATURE BOOK 



remain on the tree 

 some time after those 

 of most other trees 

 have fallen. 



The hark is thick 

 and roughened into 

 vertical folds, reddish 

 brown in colour. 



The winter twigs are 

 stout, and have the 

 peculiarit}- of emitting 

 a milky fluid when 

 cut. The resting hiids, 

 arranged alternately 

 on the twigs, are 

 broad at the base, 

 somewhat flattened 

 and pointed. They 

 are protected b\' 

 scales, and stand on 

 prominent bases. The 

 leaf-scars are large, 

 almost saucer-shaped, 

 and show from fi\-e 

 to seven leaf-traces, 

 more or less grouped. 

 The leaves vary 

 somewhat, but may 

 be descril)ed as gene- 

 ra 1 1 y lieart -shaped, 

 though at times, espe- 

 cially in the case of 

 the White Mulberry, 

 they have one or more 

 deeply cut incisions 

 on each side. The 

 margin is irregularly 

 toothed. The colour 

 in the black variety is 

 a dark green, and the 

 te.xture is rough and 

 hairy ; Init in the 

 w h i t e \ariety the 

 colour is much lighter 

 and the surface smooth and shin\'. 

 The midrib passes direct to the apex, 

 with six or seven pairs of side ribs, the 

 lower pair of which start from the base 

 of the leaf, and each throws out six or 



\1 



WINTER TWIG OF 

 MULBERRY. 



seven strong tertiary ribs to support the 

 lower leaf extension. 



The flowers are distinct — the pollen- 

 bearing from the fruit-producing. Both 

 kinds may generally be found on the same 

 tree, but not always. In some instances, 

 especiall}^ in the case of the Black Mul- 

 berry, one kind onl}' — pollen-bearing or 

 fruit-producing flowers — will be found on 

 a tree. The Mull)erry thus shows a ten- 

 dency to break from the rule observed by 

 all the trees previously 

 noticed. It comes mid- 

 way between these and 

 the others to be next con- 

 sidered, the Poplars and 

 Willows, in which, without 

 exception, every tree spe- 

 ciahses, producing one 

 kind of flower only. Evo- 

 lutionary changes, though 

 the work of long ages, are 

 always in progress, and 

 the Mulberry is now at 

 the distinctly transitional 

 point in its life - story, 

 where a tendency to dif- 

 ferentiate between a pollen- 

 bearing and a fiiiit-producing tree be- 

 comes evident, in the endeavour to 

 secure the positive advantage of assured 

 cross-fertilisation. The pollen-bearing 

 flowers are grouped into loose, catkin- 

 like green tassels, near the base of the 

 young dwarf shoots. The }x:)llen dust, 

 which is conveyed by tlie wind, is 

 greenish white. The fruit-producing 

 flowers, bunched into short spikes, stand 

 out also about the base of the dwarf 

 shoots, and occasionally at the junction 

 of the lower leaves of the same with 

 the shoot. 



The fruit is really a crowded cluster of 

 stalkless stone fruits, very juicy, and with 

 " skins " that easily rupture. This fruit 

 cluster has the appearance of a large, 

 somewhat elongated blackberry ; though, 

 unlike the blackberry, it is the product, 

 not of one flower, but of many. 



He.nrv Irving. 



RESTING BUD 

 (ENLARGED) 

 OF M U L- 

 BERRY. 



