Black Mulberry 



3^3 



peduncles a little shorter; the pistillate 

 catkins somewhat oblong, 0.5 to 10 mm. 

 long. The fruit is subglobose to oval- 

 oblong, I to 2 cm. long, varying greatly 

 in size and quahty, usually longer than 

 its stalk, white or pinkish, sometimes 

 nearly dry, and never as juicy as that of 

 the Black mulberry. 



The wood is moderately hard, close- 

 grained, hght yellowish brown; its specific 

 gravity is about 0.71. It is used for vari- 

 ous purposes in the Old World; said to be 

 a favorite for wine casks in France. The 

 leaves are the chief food of the silkworm 

 and also used as fodder for goats and 

 sheep. The bast is used as a coarse fiber; 

 the root-bark as a vermifuge and as a 

 dye. In Turkestan the dried fruit of this 

 species or a related one is ground into meal for food 



Fig. 321. — White Mulberry. 



2. BLACK MULBERRY —Moras nigra Linnaeus 



This tree is supposed to have come originally from Persia, but has been known 

 in Europe for ages and is now widely naturalized there. In our area it has been 



introduced on account of its pleasant black 

 fruit, and has become naturalized along 

 roadsides and waste places in the southern 

 States and also on the Pacific coast, at- 

 taining a maximum height of 20 meters, 

 with a trunk diameter of 6 dm. 



The branches are numerous, slender 

 and spreading, forming a large round head; 

 the bark is sUghtly fissured, with many 

 irregular dark gray scales; the twigs are 

 round and slender, shghtly hairy, becoming 

 smooth and brownish gray. The leaves 

 are thin and firm, ovate, 4 to 15 cm. long, 

 short taper-pointed, rounded or heart- 

 shaped at the base, sharply toothed on the 

 margin, sometimes 2- or 3-lobed, hairy at 

 first, becoming dark green and shining 

 above, paler, with prominent venation be- 



FiG. 322. — Black Mulberry. 



neath; leaf-stalk somewhat hairy, slender, about one third the length of the blade. 



