Morus 1 6 1 1 



7. Var. colombassa, Seringe, Descrip. Muriers, 206 (1855). Leaves distant on 

 the branches, small, thin, lobed. 



8. Var. pyramidalis, Seringe, Descr. Muriers, 212 (1855). Branches vertical, 

 similar in habit to the Lombardy poplar. 



9. Vsx. pendula, Dippel, Laubholzkunde, ii. 10 (1892). Branches pendulous. 



10. Var. constantinopolitana, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1358 (1838). 

 Morus constantinopolitana, Poiret, in Lamarck, Encycl. iv. 381 (1797). 



A tree with thick and twisted branches, resembling in habit Robinia Pseudacacia, 

 var. tortuosa ; leaves thick in texture. The origin of this peculiar form is unknown. 

 It is well figured by Seringe, Desc. Muriers, 210, t. v. (1855). 



The White Mulberry is undoubtedly a native of China, where it is common 

 wild in the mountainous districts of the northern and central provinces. The cultiva- 

 tion of this species and the rearing of silkworms can be traced back to the remotest 

 times of Chinese civilisation.^ In Japan, where it is called Kuwa, several varieties 

 of this species appear to occur wild ; but the broad-leaved form, used for rearing 

 silkworms, was probably introduced, with the art of sericulture, from China in the 

 third or fourth century of our era. Mayr ^ states that M. alba grows wild and 

 attains a large size in the virgin forests of central Yezo ; and he measured a 

 mulberry tree in the Bonin Isles 100 ft. in height and 10 ft. in girth.' 



Complete details of the introduction of this species and the silk-worm industry 

 into the Levant and Europe are given by Loudon, and need not be repeated here. 

 The tree has been widely naturalised in many countries, as in Persia, Armenia, the 

 Caucasus, Asia Minor, and in south-eastern Russia. It is only known in the 

 cultivated state in Greece, Italy, and France. 



The White Mulberry was introduced into England in 1596, but has apparently 

 never succeeded in attaining a great size or age, the largest mentioned by Loudon 

 being one at Syon, 45 ft. high and 6 ft. in girth in 1838. This tree no longer 

 exists ; but there are two young trees about 20 ft. high. Most trees which I have 

 seen in this country are of small size and growing in botanic gardens, as at Kew, 

 where the varieties are well represented. Elwes found a tree at Henham Hall, 

 which was, in 1909, 20 ft, high with a head twenty paces round. Another at Beauport, 

 Sussex, was 25 ft. by 3 ft. 3 in., and was bearing fruit in October 191 1. This species 

 is said* to have set fruit in the open garden at Dalkeith in July 1894. 



The finest specimen that I have seen in Europe, was growing on the roadside 

 near Zvornik in the Drina valley in Servia, and measured 65 ft. by 8 ft. in 1909. 



(A. H.) 



1 Cf. Bretschneider, Boi. Sinic. ii. 328 (1892). ^ Fremdldnd. Wald- u. Parkbduine, 485 (1906). 



' The mulberry of the Bonin Isles, which may be a distinct species (M. indica ?), is known in Japan as Shima-guwa. It 

 produces a rich yellow wood with beautiful markings, which is highly valued, and used for high-class cabinet-making. I 

 purchased a board of this wood at a high price in Tokio, part of which is in the Cambridge Forestry Museum.— H. J. E. 



4 Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin. xx. 237 (1894). 



