244 



URTICACE^E 



MORUS. —Mulberry. 



Mortis rubra Linne. — Red Mulberry. 



Description. — Flowers monoecious or dioecious. Staminate flowers in 

 drooping axillary spikes ; calyx 4-parted ; stamens 4. Pistillate flowers 

 in dense, ovate, erect spikes ; calyx of 4 sepals ; ovary 2-celled, one of the 

 cells disappearing during the development of the fruit ; styles 2, filiform. 

 When ripe each ovary is an achenium covered by the succulent calyx, the 

 whole fertile spike becoming a dark-purple, juicy fruit resembling a black- 

 berry. 



A small tree 20 to 30 feet high. Leaves alternate, ovate, cordate, 

 pointed, serrate, rough above, downy beneath ; those of the young shoots 

 sometimes 2- to 3-lobed. The flowers appear in May ; the berries are ripe 

 in July ; they are about an inch long, and have an agreeable sweetish and 

 acidulous taste. 



Habitat. — In rich woods from New England to Illinois and southward. 



Part Used.— -The fruit- 

 not official. 



Constituents. — G 1 u c o s e , 

 free acid, and mucilaginous 

 matter. 



Preparations. — Commonly 

 used in the form of a syrup 

 or expressed juice. 



Medical Properties and 

 Uses.— Mulberries are slight- 

 ly laxative, and their mildly 

 acid properties render them 

 cooling and refreshing. They 

 are chiefly employed in the 

 preparation of refrigerant 

 drinks in acute febrile and 

 inflammatory affections. 



URTICA.— Nettle. 



Character of the Genus. — 

 Flowers monoecious or dioeci- 

 ous, in axillary clusters or 

 spikes. Staminate flowers ; 

 stamens 4, inserted around the rudiment of a pistil. Pistillate flowers ; 

 sepals 4, in pairs, the outer pair smaller, spreading, the inner, in fruit, en- 

 closing the achenium. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with stinging hairs. Leaves opposite, stip- 

 ulate. Flowers greenish. 



Fig. 153. — Urtica dioica. 



