1034 



MORUS 



MORUS 



1428. Teas' Weeping Mulberry. 



fruits are an inch long, but tliey are oftener only half 

 that length, and one sometimes finds trees on which the 

 fruits are barely a quarter of an inch in length. Mow 

 and then a tree bears fruit nearly or quite black. Birds, 



poultry and hogs are 

 fond of these Mulber- 

 ries. The trees are usu- 

 ally very thick-topped 

 and bushy growers, 

 but occasionally one is 

 seen w li i c h , w h e n 

 young, has branches as 

 straight and trim as a 

 Northern Spy apple. 

 These haU'-wild trees 

 are seedlings, and this 

 accounts for their var- 

 iability. 



Var.Tat4rica, Loudon 

 (M. T'f/drica, Linn.). 

 Russian Mulberhv. 

 Figs. 1422^25, U:n. A 

 hardy type of Morns 

 alba wliich was intro- 

 duced into our western 

 states during 1875-77 by the Russian Mennonites. It dif- 

 fers little from the type of Morn^ aUxi in botanical 

 characters. As commonly seen, it is a low-growing v^ery 

 bashy-topped, small tree with small and mnch-lobed Ivs. 

 The fruit is usually very small and insipid, and varies 

 from creamy white to violet, deep red and almost black. 

 Var. nervdsa, Hort. Fig. 1429. Lvs. contracted and 

 jagged, and very strongly marked with many white 

 veins. It bears fruit a half-inch long. Among the 

 horticultural curiosities this tree should find a place, 

 although it is not grown by our nurseryn)en. Its orna- 

 mental value is considerable, especially when striking 

 effects are desired. Rare in America. A large specimen 

 stands in the grounds of the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington. The history of the Nervosa Mulberry is 

 obscure. Dclile described it in a French periodical as 

 long ago as 182(), and it is described in monographic 

 works. It is of horticultural origin. 



The following names, which one may find in horticultu- 

 ral literature, are referable to M. aUia: cedrbnn{?).colom- 

 hdasa, Constant inopo\it(\na, qlol>dsa, intermedia, Itdlica, 

 lacini(ita (of some), lucida, nicnibranticea, iitacrophylla, 

 Moretii, iT^omcnia, rosea, urtictefdlia. 



BB. Slijle evident or even prominent. 

 Jap6nlca, Audib. (M. dJha, var. styUsa, Bureau). 

 Lvs. usually large, dull, rather thin, long-pointed, the 

 rounded teeth very large and deep, or the margin even 

 almost jagged, the leaves upon the young growth usually 

 deeply lobed. China, Korea, Japan. — This species has 

 been introduced lately. It is tender in the North when 

 young. The fruit is described as short-oblong and red. 



J'tfifdlia, Poir., which Bureau refers here, is probably 

 3/. Indica, Linn.). Fig. 1432 A. A strong-growing 

 small tree or giant shrub, with dull, roughish and very 

 large, long-pointed lvs., which are seldom or never 

 prominently lobed, and which are often convex above, 

 bearing black, sweet f r. ; style evident. China, where 

 it is the chief silkworm Mulberry. — Once much grown 

 in this country, but not now well known, particularly 

 not in the North. 



1429. The Nervosa Mulberry 

 Morus alba, var. nervosa. 



AA. Jjvs. dull green, mostly rough or jnibeseenl . 

 B. Fnll-ejrown lvs. more than i in. long. 



multicaillis, Perr. {M.dtlni, wr.nni/tiraiilis, Loudon. 

 M. allta. var. latlfolia. Bureau. J/. ^Sinensis, Hort. AI. 



1430. Morus alba (XJ-4). 



nlgrra, Linn. Black Mulberry. Lvs. dark, dull 

 green, rather large, tapering into a prominent point, 

 commonly very rough above, usually not lobed, the 

 base equal or very nearly so on both sides, the teeth 

 rather small and close, the branches brown: fr. large, 

 comparatively thick and fleshy, mostly dark-colored. 

 The black Mulberry is a native of Asia, probably of 

 Persia and adjacent regions. -Th is is the species which is 

 cultivated in the Old World for its fruit. In America 

 It IS very little grown. It is not hardy, except in pro- 

 tected places, in New England and New York. The 

 Black Persian Mulberry of the South and of California 

 is probably of this species. 



rilbra, Linn. Native Red Mul- 

 BERKV. Fig. 14:i:). Lvs. usually 

 large, very various, those on the 

 young shoots deeply lobed with 

 very oblique and rounded sinsues, 

 in the base of which there are no 

 teeth, the upper surface rough and 

 the lower one soft or variously 

 pubescent, the teeth medium or 

 romparatively small and either 

 i-oundc(l or bluntish: fr. deep red, 

 or when fully ripe almost black, 

 variable in size, often very good, 

 nearly always having an agreeable 

 slight acidity. Mass." to Pla., Kans. 

 and Tex., mostly in rich soils and bottom lands. S.S. 

 7:.'120. — This native Mulberry has been tried for the 

 feeding of silkworms, but with indifferent success. At 

 least three of the named fruit-hearin;; Mulberries bo- 

 long to it, and a yellow-leaved Mulberry, which is 



