Plagianthus divaricatus Forst., t. 43., is a native of New Zealand, and was introduced in 1822. It is tolerably hardy; a plant having lived with us at Bayswater, with very little protection, since 1829. P. sidoides Hook. Bot. Mag., t. 3396., is a twiggy shrub, from 2 ft. to 3ft. high, probably also as hardy as the other. Both species flower in April. Cluglia alaternoides Bot. Mag., t. 1321., has been an inhabitant of our green-houses since 1692. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and would probably stand against a conservative wall. CHAP. C. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER URTICA CEÆ. THESE are included in five genera, which have their names and characters below. MO`RUS Tourn. Flowers unisexual; those of the 2 sexes, in most species, upon the same plant; in M. nigra Poir., and, according to Gronovius (Virg., 146.), in M. rùbra L., upon distinct plants: according to Kalm (Act. Suec., 1776), the sexes of M. rubra L. are polygamous.-Male flowers disposed in a drooping, peduncled, axillary spike. Calyx of 4 equal sepals, imbricate in æstivation, expanded in flowering. Stamens 4. A rudiment of a pistil is present. · Female flowers in ovate erect spikes. Calyx of 4 leaves, in opposite pairs, the outer pair the larger, all upright and persistent, becoming pulpy and juicy. Ovary of 2 cells, one including one pendulous ovule, the other devoid of any. Stigmas 2, long. In the state of ripeness, each ovary is a fleshy and juicy utricle, and is covered by the fleshy and juicy calyx: the aggregate of the ovaries and the calyxes from a spike of flowers constitutes what is termed a mulberry. Seed pendulous Species several; natives of Asia, south of Europe, and North America. Trees. Sap white. Leaves alternate, large, mostly lobed, and rough; the favourite food of the silk-moth (Bómbyx mòri F.) in its caterpillar state. (Chiefly from T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.) BROUSSONE TIA L'Hérit. Flowers unisexual; those of the two sexes upon distinct plants. Male flowers in pendulous cylindrical catkins; each flower in the axil of a bractea. Calyx shortly tubular, then 4-parted. Stamens 4, elastic.-Female flowers in peduncled, axillary, upright globular heads. Calyx tubular, its tip with 3-4 teeth. Ovary within an integument that arises from the bottom of the calyx. Style lateral, prominent. Stigma taper. Fruit club-shaped, proceeding from the bottom of the calyx, and extended much beyond its tip; and consisting of the integument in which the ovary was enclosed, and now become very juicy; and of a 1-seeded oval utricle with a crustaceous integument, and enclosed within the juicy. integument. Species 1, native to Japan and the isles of the Pacific Ocean. A tree, with leaves large, lobed or not, and hairy. (Du Hamel, Traité des Arbres, ed. nouv.; and the Penny Cyclopædia.) MACLU RA Nuttall. Flowers unisexual; in M. aurantiaca Nutt., and M. tinctòria D. Don, those of the two sexes upon distinct plants; if not so in the rest, then upon the same plant. What follows relates to M. aurantìaca Nutt. Male flowers in a very short almost sessile racemose panicle of 12 or more flowers. Calyx 4-parted. Stamens 4, in some instances 3. Female flowers closely aggregate upon an axis, and forming a globular head that is borne upon a short axillary peduncle. Calyx oblong, urceolar, apparently with 4 lobes at the tip: it includes the ovary, which is situated above its base, and is terminated by a style that is thread-shaped, downy, and protruded beyond the calyx to the length of nearly 1 in. The ovary becomes an achenium about in. long, half as much broad, compressed, oval, with the tip blunt and unsymmetrical from an indentation on one side in which the style had been attached. — A tree, native of North America. Spiny spines axillary. Sap white. Leaves alternate, ovate. Stipules minute, deciduous. (Nuttall; Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 312-316., and vol. xii. p. 210.; and observation.) : Ficus Tourn. Flowers inserted upon the interior surface of a hollow globular or pear-shaped fleshy receptacle, in whose tip is an orifice closed with small scales; minute, many within a receptacle; those in the upper part male, the rest female; or the flowers of each sex occupy distinct receptacles upon distinct plants. - Male flower. Calyx 3-parted. Stamens 3.- Female flower. Calyx 5-cleft, having a tube that invests a threadshaped stalk that bears the pistil. Stalk adnate to the ovary on one side, and extending to the base of the style: the style is inserted rather laterally. Ovary with I cell and 1 ovule. Stigmas 2. Fruit a utricle. Seed pendulous. Embryo falcate, in the centre of fleshy albumen. - Species numerous. Trees or shrubs, occurrent in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. F. Cárica inhabits the south of Europe. Sap white. Leaves alternate, stipulate. Stipules large, convolute, deciduous. (T. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ. Most of the characters are taken from F. Cárica L.) BO`RYA Willd. Flowers unisexual: those of the two sexes upon distinct plants. Male flower. Calyx minute, in 4 deep segments. Stamens 2-3. Female flower. Calyx inferior, in 4 deep segments, that are deciduous; two opposite ones very minute, and in some instances not present. Ovary roundish-ovate: it has 2 cells. Style short. Stigma capitate, depressed, obscurely cloven. Fruit pulpy, oval-oblong, with I cell. Seed mostly solitary; its skin membranous, its embryo straight, its albumen horny.-Species 5; 4 native of North America, 1 of the West Indies: all shrubs, with their leaves opposite, or nearly so, mostly smooth and entire; and their flowers minute, axillary, fascicled and bracteated. (Smith, under Bigelòvia in Rees's Cycl.; Nuttall in Gen. ; and observation.) GENUS I. MO`RUS Tourn. THE MULBERRY TREE. Lin. Syst. Monœ`cia Tetrándria. Identification. Tourn., quoted by T. Nees ab Esenbeck, in his Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.; Schreb. Lin. Gen. PL., No. 1424.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 368.; T. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ., fasc. 3. No. 5. Synonymes. Mûrier, Fr.; Maulbeere, Ger. Derivation. Several derivations have been given for the word Morus: some suppose it to be taken from the Greek word morea, or moron, signifying a mulberry or blackberry; others derive it from mauros, dark; and Sir J. E. Smith suggests that it may have been taken by antiphrasis from moros, foolish, the mulberry tree, from its slowness in putting out its leaves, being anciently considered the emblem of wisdom. The Morca, in the Levant, is said to be so called from the resemblance of the shape of that peninsula to the leaf of a mulberry. Description, &c. Deciduous trees, natives of Europe, Asia, and America, remarkable for their large leaves, which are mostly lobed, and which, in a state of cultivation, are liable to great variation in point of magnitude, form, and texture. They are easily propagated by seeds, layers, cuttings, and truncheons; every part of the mulberry, like the olive, taking root easily, and forming a tree. All the species will serve to nourish the silkworm; but M. álba, and its varieties, are considered much the best for this purpose. In warm climates, such as Persia, the leaves of M. nigra are sufficiently succulent for feeding the silkworm; but in colder countries they do not answer equally well. 1. M. NIGRA Poir. The black-fruited, or common, Mulberry. Identification. Poir. Ency. Méth., 4. p. 377.; Lin. Sp. Pl., 1398.; Hort. Cliff., 441.; Mart. Mill., No.2.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 369. Synonymes. Morus Dod. Pempt., 810.; M. frúctu nigro Bauh. Pin., 459. Engravings. Ludw. Ectypa Veg., t. 114.; Blackw., t. 126.; Wats. Dend. Brit., t. 159.; N. Du Ham., 4. t. 22.; and the plate in our last Volume. Spec. Char., &c. Sexes monoecious, sometimes dioecious. Leaves heart-shaped, bluntish, or slightly lobed with about 5 lobes; toothed with unequal teeth, rough. (Willd. Sp., iv. p. 369.) A deciduous tree, a native of Persia, but found also on the sea coast of Italy; growing to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft. Introduced in 1548. Sir J. E. Smith remarks that this species is "sometimes perfectly diœcious, and very frequently partially so; the stamens being in greater perfection in most flowers of one tree, and the pistils in those of another." (Rees's Cycl., art. Morus.) Variety. † M. n. 2 laciniàta Mill. Dict., No. 2., has the leaves jagged rather than cut. This alleged variety of the species may be considered as more properly a variation of the individual; since leaves jagged and lobed in a great variety of ways are frequently found on plants in one season, and only heart-shaped comparatively entire leaves the next! Description. The common mulberry is generally a low, much-branched tree, with a thick rough bark, and broad heart-shaped leaves, which are unequally serrated, and very rough. The fruit is large, of a dark purple, very wholesome, and agreeable to the palate. The mulberry tree is remarkable for the slowness of its growth; and also for being one of the last trees to develope its leaves, though it is one of the first to ripen its fruit. In Britain, the tree always assumes something of a dwarf or stunted character, spreading into very thick arms, or branches, near the ground, and forming an extremely large head. It is a tree of very great durability; the trees at Syon being said to be 300 years old, and some at Oxford and other places being supposed to be of nearly equal antiquity. It is also wonderfully tenacious of life; the roots of a black mulberry, which had lain dormant in the ground for twenty-four years, being said, after the expiration of that time, to have sent up shoots. (Ann. des Scien. Nat., tom. ix. p. 338., as quoted in Brande's Journ. for Oct. 1827.) Geography. The common, or black, mulberry is generally supposed to be a native of Persia, where there are still masses of it found in a wild state; though the date of its introduction into Europe is unknown; and though it is occasionally found apparently wild in Italy. It is, however, so frequently confounded by the earlier writers with the white mulberry, as to render it difficult to ascertain the countries of which it is really a native. History. The black mulberry has been known from the earliest records of antiquity. It is twice mentioned in the Bible; viz. in the Second Book of Samuel, and in the Psalms. The same difficulty, however, exists in tracing its history distinctly from that of the white mulberry, as in its geography; and it is only when spoken of as a fruit tree, or when its colour is decidedly mentioned, that we can be sure which species is meant. Ovid, however, evidently points out the black mulberry as the one introduced in the story of Pyramus and Thisbe; and Pliny seems also to allude to it, as he observes that there is no other tree that has been so neglected by the wit of man, either in grafting or giving it names; an observation which holds good to the present day respecting the black mulberry, as it has only one trifling variety, or rather variation, and no synonyme; whereas there are numerous varieties of M. álba. Pliny adds, "Of all the cultivated trees, the mulberry is the last that buds, which it never does until the cold weather is past; and it is therefore called the wisest of trees. But, when it begins to put forth buds, it despatches the business in one night, and that with so much force, that their breaking forth may be evidently heard." (Book xvi. c. 25.) The black mulberry was first brought to England in 1548; when some trees were planted at Syon, one, at least, of which (fig. 1222.) is still in existence. Others say that the first mulberry tree planted in England was in the garden at Lambeth Palace, by Cardinal Pole, about 1555. The tree is mentioned by Tusser, and also by Gerard, who describes both the black and the white mulberry as being cultivated in his time. The royal edict of James I., about 1605, recommending the cultivation of silkworms, and offering packets of mulberry seeds to all who would sow them, no doubt rendered the tree fashionable, as there is scarcely an old garden or gentleman's seat, throughout the country, which can be traced back to the seventeenth century, in which a mulberry tree is not to be found. It is remarkable, however, that, though these trees were expressly intended for the nourishment of silkworms, they nearly all belong to Morus nigra, as very few instances exist of old trees of Mòrus álba in England. (See Bradley's Treat. on Hush, and Gard., ed. 1726, vol. i. p. 349.) Shakspeare's mulberry is referable to this period, as it was planted in 1609 in his garden at New Place, Stratford; and it was a black mulberry, as Mr. Drake mentions a native of Stratford, who, in his youth, remembered frequently to have eaten of the fruit of this tree, some of its branches hanging over the wall which divided that garden from his father's. (Drake's Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 584.) Properties and Uses. The black mulberry is cultivated, Du Hamel tells us, "for its fruit, which is very wholesome and palatable; and not for its leaves, which are but little esteemed for silkworms;" and which, at the beginning of autumn, often become covered with red spots. The fruit, he adds, is eaten raw, or "made into syrups, which are considered excellent for sore throats." (Nouv. Du Ham., iv. p. 91.) The wood is considered of but little value in France, except for fire-wood: it is less compact than even that of the white mulberry; and weighs only 40 lb. 7 oz. the cubic foot. Cattle eat the leaves, and all kinds of poultry are very fond of the fruit. In England, the fruit is generally eaten at the dessert; and it is considered of a cooling aperient nature when ripe. It forms an agreeable sweetmeat, though it is not generally used for that purpose; and Evelyn says that, mixed with the juice of cider apples, it makes a very strong and agreeable wine. Dr. Clarke mentions that he saw some Greeks in the Crimea employed in distilling brandy from mulberries; which he describes as "a weak but palatable spirit, as clear as water." (Travels, vol. i. p. 529.) A wine is also made from it in France; but it requires to be drunk immediately, as it very soon becomes acid. The root has an acrid bitter taste, and is considered excellent as a vermifuge, in doses of half a drachm in powder. (Smith in Rees's Cycl.) The tree in every part contains a portion of milky juice, which, being coagulated, is found to form a kind of coarse Indian rubber. In some parts of Spain, on Mount Etna, and in Persia, the leaves of this species are said to be preferred to those of the white mulberry for silkworms. (Hook. Bot. Comp., vol. i. p. 59.) Poetical and mythological Allusions. The mulberry was dedicated by the Greeks to Minerva, probably because it was considered as the wisest of trees; and Jupiter the Protector was called Morea. Ovid has celebrated the black mulberry tree in the story of Pyramus and Thisbe; where he tells us that its fruit was originally snow-white; but that when Pyramus, in despair at the supposed death of his mistress, killed himself with his own sword, he fell under one of these trees; and when Thisbe, returning and finding him dead, stabbed herself also, their blood flowing over the roots of the tree, was absorbed by them, and gave its colour to the fruit. 'Dark in the rising tide the berries grew, And, white no longer, took a sable hue; But brighter crimson, springing from the root, Shot through the black, and purpled o'er the fruit." Cowley describes the black mulberry as being used, in his time, both for its fruit and leaves : "But cautiously the mulberry did move, And first the temper of the skies would prove, COWLEY on Plants, book v. The destruction of Shakspeare's mulberry tree in 1756, by its then proprietor, Mr. Gastrell, gave rise to several songs, and other pieces of poetry; but they rather relate to the individual tree than to the species. Soil, Situation, Propagation, and Culture. The black mulberry will grow in almost any soil or situation that is tolerably dry, and in any climate not much colder than that of London. In Britain, north of York, it requires a wall, except in very favourable situations. It is very easily propagated by truncheons or pieces of branches, 8 ft. or 9 ft. in length, and of any thickness, being planted half their depth in tolerably good soil; when they will bear fruit the following year. (See Gard. Mag., vol. iii. p. 217., and vol. v. p. 63.) Every part of the root, trunk, boughs, and branches may be turned into plants by separation; the small shoots, or spray, and the small roots, being made into cuttings, the larger shoots into stakes, the arms into truncheons, and the trunk, stool, and roots being cut into fragments, leaving a portion of the bark on each. (Ibid., vol. iv. p. 152.) It is very seldom, if ever, now propagated by seeds, which rarely ripen in Britain. The mulberry, from its slowness in putting out its leaves, being rarely injured by spring frosts, and its leaves being never devoured by any insect, except the silkworm, and never attacked by mildew, very seldom fails to bear a good crop of fruit. This fruit, however, though excellent and extremely wholesome, does not keep, and is so far troublesome, that it is only good when it is just quite ripe, and is best when it is suffered to fall from the tree itself. For this reason, mulberry trees are generally planted on a lawn or grass-plot, to prevent the fruit that falls from being injured by the dirt or gravel. In a paper by J. Williams, Esq., of Pitmaston, published in the Horticultural Transactions for 1813, this practice is, however, censured. The standard mulberry," says Mr. Williams, "receives great injury by being planted on grass-plots with the view of preserving the fruit when it falls spontaneously. No tree, perhaps, receives more benefit from the spade and the dunghill than the mulberry; it ought therefore to be frequently dug about the roots, and occasionally assisted with manure. The ground under the tree should be kept free from weeds throughout the summer, particularly when the fruit is ripening, as the reflected light and heat from the bare surface of the soil is thus increased; more especially if the end branches are kept pruned, so as not to bow over too near to, and shade, the ground. The fruit is also very fine if the tree is trained as an espalier, within the reflection of a south wall, or other building. If a wooden trellis were constructed, with the same inclination as the roof of a forcing-house, fronting the south, and raised about |