MULBERRY. 



[78] 



Family: URTICACEAE [Translator's note: now MORACEAE]. 

 Reproductive system: MONOECY, TETRANDRY. 



There are eight or ten species of mulberry trees of which three or four are 

 cultivated for their utility. The same tree has male or female flowers, but they're on 

 different catkins. In the male flowers the calyx has four leaflets, and there are four 

 stamens. In the female flowers the calyx likewise has four persistent leaflets, and the 

 ovary is surmounted with two styles. It turns into a berry formed by the persistent calyx. 

 Several berries joined together form the fruit called the mulberry. 



The white mulberry tree, Moras alba, Linn., is a medium-sized tree. The trunk, 

 often very large, is covered with very rough bark. The leaves are petiolate, somewhat 

 heart-shaped, dentate, thin, smooth and sometimes unevenly indented. The flowers are 

 located in the axils of the leaves. The male flowers are in reddish catkins; the female 

 catkins are yellowish during their early development. The fruit is small, yellowish, or 

 sometimes red. 



FLOWERS: in June around Paris and in April in Provence. 



RANGE: China. Naturalized in France for several centuries. 



The red mulberry tree, Morns rubra, Linn., is a tall tree with a trunk covered with 

 blackish bark. The leaves are oval, heart-shaped at the base, entire, and dentate on the 

 margins. The flowers are dioecious. The male ones form loose pendent slightly reddish 

 clusters. 



FLOWERS: in June. 



RANGE: North America, naturalized in our gardens. 



The black mulberry, Moms nigra. Linn., is a tall tree twenty-five to forty feet 

 high. The bark on its trunk is thick and rough. The leaves are petiolate, alternate, heart- 

 shaped, slightly dentate, 



