Winter Buds and Leaves.—Buds ovate, obtuse. Leaves simple, alternate, 4-8 inches long, two-thirds as wide, rough above, yellowish-green and densely pubescent when young; at maturity dark green and downy beneath, turning yellow in autumn; conspicuously reticulated; outline variable, ovate, obovate, oblong or broadly oval, serrate-dentate with equal teeth, or irregularly 3-7-lobed; apex acuminate; base heart-shaped to truncate; stalk 1-2 inches long; stipules linear, serrate, soon falling.
Inflorescence.—May. Appearing with the leaves from the season's shoots, in axillary spikes, sterile and fertile flowers sometimes on the same tree, sometimes on different trees,—sterile flowers in spreading or pendulous spikes, about 1 inch long; calyx 4-parted; petals none; stamens 4, the inflexed filaments of which suddenly straighten themselves as the flower expands: fertile spikes spreading or pendent; calyx 4-parted, becoming fleshy in fruit; ovary sessile; stigmas 2, spreading.
Fruit.—July to August. In drooping spikes about 1 inch long and ½ inch in diameter; dark purplish-red, oblong, sweet and edible; apparently a simple fruit but really made up of the thickened calyx lobes of the spike.
Horticultural Value.—Hardy in southern New England; grows rapidly in a good, moist soil in sun or shade; the large leaves start late and drop early; useful where it is hardy, in low tree plantations or as an undergrowth in woods; readily transplanted, but seldom offered for sale by nurserymen or collectors; propagated from seed.
Plate LII.—Morus rubra.
| 1. Winter buds. |
| 2. Branch with sterile flowers. |
| 3. Sterile flower with stamens incurved. |
| 4. Sterile flower expanded. |
| 5. Branch with fertile flowers. |
| 6. Fertile flower, side view. |
| 7. Fruiting branch. |