MORACEAE 
485 
Monstera Adans. Araceae (11). 15 sp. trop. Am. Climbing shrubs 
with curious leaves, pinnate and full of round holes. When very 
young the leaf is entire ; then the tissue between the veins ceases to 
grow rapidly, becomes dry and tears away, thus leaving holes between 
the ribs ; at the edge the marginal part usually breaks, and thus the 
outermost hole gives rise to a notch in the leaf, which becomes pin- 
nated. Beginning as a climber the plant usually ends as an epiphyte 
with aerial roots going down to the soil. Firs. 2 , The fruit of M. 
deliciosa Liebm. is edible. 
Montbretia DC. = Tritonia Ker-Gawl. 
Montia Mich, ex Linn. Portulacaceae. 1 sp. M. fontana L. (blinks) 
cosmop., exhibiting many varieties. It is an annual herb, usually found 
in wet places, with small cymes of firs. These are inconspicuous and 
homogamous, and are probably as a rule self-fertilised. In bad 
weather or when submerged they become cleistogamic. The stalk 
goes through similai movements to that of Claytonia, and the fruit 
explodes in the same way. The plant is eaten as salad. 
Moquilea Aubl. Rosaceae (vi. 13a). 20 sp. S. Am. Some apetalous. 
Moquinia DC. Compositae (xn). 9 sp. S. Am. Dioecious shrubs. 
Moraceae. Dicotyledons (Archichl. Urticales). 55 gen. with 800 sp. 
trop. and sub-trop., a few temp. Most are trees or shrubs with stip. 
leaves, and with latex. [See Ficus, Cecropia, Maclura, Humulus.] 
Infl. cymose, usually taking the form of (pseudo-) racemes, spikes, 
umbels or heads (cf. Urticaceae, and paper there cited). Firs, uni- 
sexual. P usually 4 or (4), persistent ; sta. in <? as many as perianth- 
leaves and opp. to them, bent inwards or straight in the bud, not 
exploding like those of Urticaceae; G in ? of (2) cpls. of which one is 
usually aborted all but the style; ovary i-loc. superior to inferior; 
ovule 1, pendulous, amphitropous with micropyle facing upwards, or 
rarely basal and erect. Fruit an achene or drupe-like; but commonly 
a multiple fruit arises by union of the fruits of different firs., often 
complicated by addition of the fleshy common receptacle (see Morus, 
Ficus, Artocarpus). Seed with or without endosperm; embryo 
usually curved. Many yield useful fruits, e.g. Morus, Artocarpus, 
Ficus, Brosimum, &c. ; other important economic plants are Brous- 
sonetia (paper), Castilloa (rubber), Brosimum (milk), Ficus (caout- 
chouc, lac, timber, &c.), Cannabis (hemp, churrus), Humulus (hop) 
and others. 
Classification and chief genera (after Engler) : 
I. MOROIDEAE (sta. incurved in bud ; ovule apical, ana- or 
amphi-tropous ; leaves folded in bud; stipules small and not 
leaving an amplexicaul scar on falling): Morus, Maclura, 
Broussonetia, Dorstenia. 
II. ARTOCARPOIDEAE (sta. straight; ovule as in I.; leaves 
convolute; stipules leaving an amplexicaul scar): Arto- 
carpus, Castilloa, Antiaris, Brosimum, Ficus. 
