CHAP. C. 



tfRTICA CEJE. .VOMiUS. 



1359 



jecting portions beside the 

 sinus equal. Very closely 

 akin to M. alba L., and, per- 

 haps, originally produced from 

 that species. It inhabits places 

 inundated by the waters of 

 the rivers Wolga and Ta- 

 nais, or Don. (Willd. Spec. 

 P/.,iv. p. 369.) A deciduous 

 tree, growing to the height 

 of 20 ft. ; and introduced in 

 1784. In the American Silk- 

 Grower's Guide, it is stated 

 that the fruit is black, and 

 resembles that of M. nigra. 

 Gerber, also, says that it is 

 black. " Pallas speaks of it 

 as reddish or pale, of no good 

 flavour, though it is eaten raw in Tartary, as well as dried, or made into a 

 sweetmeat. A wine is also prepared from it, and a very well-flavoured spirit. 

 This species is reported to be most esteemed for silkworms in China." 

 (Smith in Recs's Ci/c/opcsdia.) In America, M. tatarica is considered to make 

 the finest silk. According to a writer in the Annates de Fromont, the M. 

 tatarica is, as we have already observed (p. 1349.), nearly related to M. a. 

 multicaulis. From the trees, or rather large shrubs, bearing this name 

 in the Kew Garden, we confess our inability to fix on any permanent 

 distinction between them and M. alba, as far as the leaves are concerned : 

 the fruit we have never seen. Plants, in the London nurseries, are 2s. 6d. 

 each ; at Bollwyller, 1 franc 50 cents j at New York, 75 cents. 



¥ 5. M. ru x bra L. The red-fruited Mulberry Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 1399.; Mill. Diet., No. 4. ; Willd. Arb.,197. ; Michx. Fl.Bor. Amer., 2. 



p. 179. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 2. p. 639. ; Wangenh. Amer., p. 37. 1. 15. f. 35.; Nutt. Gen. N. Amer. 



PI. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 369. ; N. Du Ham., 4. p. 91. 

 Synonymes. M. virgfnica Pluk. Aim., p. 253., DuHam. Arb., 2. p. 24. ; M. pennsylvanica Nois. Arb. 



Fruit., Lodd. Cat., edit. 1836. 

 Engravings. Wangenh. Amer., t. 15. f. 35. ; Pluk. Aim., t. 246. f. i. ; and the plate in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., $c. Sexes polygamous. (Kalm Act. Slice. , 1776.) Sexes dioeci- 

 ous. (Gronov. Virg., 146.) Spikes of female flowers cylindrical. Catkins 

 [? of male flowers] of the length of those of the common birch (J?etula 

 alba L.). Leaves heart-shaped, ovate, acuminate, 3-lobed, or palmate ; 

 serrated with equal teeth, rough, somewhat villous ; under surface very 

 tomentose, and, in consequence, soft. ( Willd. Sp. PL) A tree, a native of 

 North America, from Canada to Florida; varying in height from 40 ft. to 70 ft. 

 "Cultivated here, according to Parkinson's Paradisus, p. 596., early in the 

 seventeenth century. He says, it grows quickly with us to a large tree, and 

 that the fruit is long, red, and pleasantly tasted." (Smith in Rees's Cyclo- 

 pcedia.) It flowers in July. This tree is named M. pennsylvanica in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, and in Loddiges's arboretum. It appears 

 very distinct from any of the preceding sorts, in the spreading umbelliferous 

 appearance of the branches, the flat, heart-shaped, very rough-surfaced 

 leaves, which are almost always entire, but which, nevertheless, are occasion- 

 ally found as much lobed and cut as those of any other of the genus. 

 This we witnessed in September, 1836, in the specimen tree in the Hack- 

 ney arboretum. 



Description, Sfc. M. rubra attains by far a greater size, as a tree, than any 

 other species of ikforus. It is seldom found, in a wild state, less than 40 ft. 

 in height ; and, in some parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia, it is often 60 ft. 

 or 70 ft. high, or more, and with a trunk 2 ft. and upwards in diameter. The 

 " leaves are large, sometimes entire, and sometimes divided into 2 or 3 



4 u 



