166 THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



introduced it to the public. It is probably the most 

 productive of all mulberries, even exceeding the wonder- 

 ful prolificacy of the Hicks. The fruit is deep black, 

 with a very rich, subacid, vinous flavor. It is fully 

 two inches long and over a quarter as thick in well- 

 developed specimens. 



The Lampas;is variety was found in the woods in 

 Lampasas county, Texas, by F. M. Ramsey, and was 

 introduced in 1889 by T. V. Munson, of Denison, 

 Texas. It has a somewhat spreading and shrub-like 

 habit. Mr. Munson writes of it: ''The Lampasas 

 mulberry, although a native of the region only 200 

 miles southwest of here, is so tender here as to winter- 

 kill. I have ceased to propagate it on that account. 

 I have never been able to fruit it." This variety is 

 interesting to the botanist because it belongs to the 

 pubescent -leaved type of the mulberry, to which 

 Bafinesque gave the name Moms /<>nt< ntosa in his 

 monograph of North American mulberry trees, and 

 which Bureau, a more recent monographer, called 

 Moms rubra var. tomentosa. 



The .Mexican mulberry (.Morns celtidifolia) , which 

 reaches as far north as Texas. New Mexico and Arizona, 

 "in fche countries south of the United States is fre- 

 quently planted as a fruit-tree," writes Sargent, in his 

 greal "Silva," quoting from Kunth, "although the 

 fruit which it produces is inferior in size ami flavor to 

 that of th«' red and black mulberry trees." This and 

 the common red mulberry are the onlj speeies Dative 



to the United States. 



We musl now enquire it' the foreign types of mul- 

 berry trees, which were e,nl\ introduced for the 



feeding of silk worms, have given an\ fruit-bearing 



