MORRENIA 



Cynanchum) and the tubular corona, which is lonRPr 

 than the pistils, villose on the inside, and conniviii- 

 over the pistils. The Ivs. are opposite and hastate. M. 

 odorata, Lmdl.. is offered by Francesobi, S. Calif. It 

 has white fragrant lis. in dense cymes in the axils. De- 

 scribed by Lindley as Ions UKO as 18:)8, but app.-ars 

 never to have been brought into cultivation. Francesflii 

 says it is "a noble vine; foliage very distiu'-t." Ar(,'en. 

 tine and Paragua\-. 



MORUS 



1033 



1424. 



Staminate flo^A^er of 



Russian Mulberry. 



Enl.irK'td. 



1425. 



Pistillate flower of 



Russian Mulberry. 



Eiilaige.l. 



MOKTJS (the ancient Latin name). Urtiei)cf<e or 

 Mordcew. MuLBEKRV. About lOU species of Mulberry 

 have been described, but the latest monographer (Bu- 

 reau, DC. Prodr. 17:237 [187:3|) reduces them to fi. 

 Some of the names are now referred to other genera. 

 Many of the names represent cultural forms of U. aUia. 

 Mulberries are grown as food for siUtworms and for tlio 

 edible fruits. The silkworm Mulberry of history is M. 

 alba, and the fruit-bearing Mulberry of history is J/. 

 nigra. Yet, strangely enough, the leading fruit-bearing 

 varieties of North America are derived from M. alba 

 (see Bailey, Bull. 41, Cornell E.xp. Sta., and "Evolution 

 of Our Native Fruits"). The native M. rubra has also 

 given varieties which are grown tor tlieir fruits. The 

 silkworm Mulberry of the Chinese is it/, mnllicaulis, by 

 some considered to ]>e a form ot Jif. alba. This was intro- 

 duced into North America early in the century, and for a 

 time there was the wildest speculation in the selling and 

 planting of the Mulberry tree, and in the rearing of 

 silkworms. These elforts have now largely passed away 

 in North America. M. mtilticnuUs gave rise to one va- 

 riety which was prized for its fruits, the Downing. This 

 variety is now little known, but the name has been pop- 

 ularly but erroneously transferred to a good variety of 

 M. alba (the New American). 



The Mulberries are trees of the temperate regions of 

 the Old and New World. The genus Morus usually has 

 monoecious flowers, both sexes being in small hanging 

 axillary catkins, the males soon falling (Pigs. 1422-2:1). 

 The calyx is 4-parted : stamens 4, the filaments partially 

 inclosed in the calyx-lobes (Fig. 1424). In the pistillate 

 flower there is one ovary with 2 stigmas, and the 4 calyx- 

 lobes are adherent to the ovary (Pig. 1425). The pistil- 

 late flowers become fleshy and cohere 

 into a long multiple fruit which sug- 

 gests a blackberry in external appear- 

 ance (Fig. 1420). 



In North America the JMulberry is 

 knowm chiefly as a frtiit-bearing tree, 

 .tithough it is never planted exten- 

 sively and the fruit is scarcely known 

 in the market. Two or three trees 

 about the home grounds are sufficient 

 to supply a family. The fruits are 

 sweet and soft. To many people they 

 are too sweet. Because of their swe( t- 

 iiess they are of little value for culi- 

 nary uses. They usually drop wli<-ti 

 ripe. They are harvested by being 

 shaken on sheets or straw. Birds are 

 exceedingly fond of them. In the 

 East and North, varieties of M. alba 

 are chiefly grown, as the New Ameri- 

 can (Downing of most present nurser- 

 ies), Thorburn and Trowbridge. On the Pacific coast 

 and in some parts of the South, varieties of M. nigra- 

 are grown, particularly the Black Persian. In parts of 

 the Soulh forms of the native jIt. rubra are grown, as 

 Hicks and Stubbs. These are popular for planting in 

 hog pastures, as the animals like the fruits. The IMtil- 

 berry thrives in any garden soil. It does well even on 



1426. Fruit of 

 Moras alba. 

 Natural size. 



thin gravels and rocky slopes. For fruit-bearing pur- 

 poses, trees may he planted from 20 to 40 feet apart. 



The Russian Mulberries are offshoots of 31. alba. 

 Tlieir particular merits are great hardiness to withstand 

 cold, drought and neglect. They are useful for low 

 wind-breaks and also for sheared hedges. They have 

 become popular on the plains. They are readily propa- 

 gated by seeds, and the resulting plants are variable. 

 Now and then a large- fruited form appears and it may 

 be named and piopagated, but for the most part the 

 Russian Mulberry has little merit for its fruits unless 

 one desires to feed the birds. 



Varieties of Mulberries are now mostly worked on 

 seedlings of the Russian. One of the most successful 

 grafts is S. D.Willard's method, shown in Fig. 1427. The 

 grafting is performed in spring when the bark will slip, 

 using cions which have been kept perfectly dormant or 

 on ice. a is the cion, the lower part being cut thin so 

 that it will enter readily between the bark and wood of 

 the stock. 6 is the stock, with an incision made through 

 the bark essentially as for shield-hudding. e shows the 

 graft bound with raffia, d shows the completed opera- 

 tion, the work being covered with grjiffing wax. Morn.s 

 miilticaiiUs grows from cuttings in the South. Those 

 cuttings, with the buds removed to prevent sprouting, 

 are often grafted before they are planted with a long 

 cion of the desired variety (see Fig. 941). The cut- 

 ling acts as a nurse, and the cion takes root of itself 

 it set deep enough. 



k There are many Mulberries with ornamental forms. 

 W these, the most popular in America at present is 

 Teas' Weeping, a chance seedling of the Russinn i.Inl 



1427. A method of grafline the Mulberry. 



a. the cion; h, niatrb: to receive cion; c, the graft tied; 



d, the graft waxed. 



berry tribe. When grafted several feet high on straight 

 Russian stock, it makes one of the best of small weep- 

 ing lawn trees (Fig. 1428). It originated on the grounds 

 of .John C. Teas, Carthage, Mo., about 188.3. parlous 

 cut-leaved forms, mostly of A[. alba, are seen in fine 

 collections, of w^hicb tlie form known as 3f. nervosa 

 (Fig. 1429) is one of the best. The foliage of Mulber- 

 ries is interesting because so variable. Even on the 

 same tree there may be leaves of several forms, while 

 different trees of the same species may show strong in- 

 dividual traits. The most striking variations are in the 

 lobiug of the leaves. 



.\. Li'.i. moslJ^ bright and glabrous above, and usnalhj 

 glox.-<ij. 



B. SIiiIP' vary short or practicalhj none. 

 61ba, Linn. White Mulberry. Figs. 1430, 1432 B. 

 Lvs. light green, rather small, smooth or very nearly so 

 above and often shining, the veins prominent beneath 

 and whitish, vai'iously lobed or divided, the basal lobes 

 unequal, the teeth large and for the most part rounded 

 or nearly obtuse, the branches gray or grayish yellow: 

 fr. variable, usually narrow, 1-2 in. long, white or violet, 

 verj' sweet. China. — jWnrios- alba has been cultivated 

 from the earliest times, chiefly for feeding the silk 

 worm. It is a frequent tree along roadsides and in the 

 old yards in the eastern states, where the trunk some- 

 times attains a diameter of two feet. This half-wild 

 f(jrra usually has rather small rounded shining leaves 

 with very large rounded teeth, and bears little whitish 

 or violet fruits, whicdi are verv sweet. Sometimes the 



