Trees or shrubs with a milky sap; leaves simple, alternate, petioled, 3-5 nerved at the base; fruit fleshy.

Plate 63

1. MÒRUS. The Mulberries.

Trees with leaves 3-nerved at the base; flowers of two kinds on different branches of the same tree or on different trees; the staminate in long catkins, calyx 4-parted, petals none, stamens 4, the pistillate catkins short; fruit an aggregate of drupes.

1. Morus rÙbra LinnÆus. Red Mulberry. Plate 64. Medium sized trees with short trunks and round heads; twigs at first green and puberulent, soon becoming glabrous and later usually turning gray; leaves ovate or somewhat orbicular, frequently 2-3 lobed, average mature blades 10-15 cm. long, more or less cordate at the base, abruptly taper-pointed, rough and glabrous above and finely pubescent beneath; fruit ripening in June or July, 1.5-3 cm. long, dark purple or nearly black, edible; wood light, soft, rather tough, coarse-grained, and durable in contact with the soil.

Distribution.—Southern Ontario west to eastern Dakotas, south to the Gulf States and west to Texas. Found throughout Indiana, although there are no records for the extreme northwestern counties. Throughout our area it must be regarded as infrequent. It is only here and there that you find a tree, and I have never seen it where there were even a small number of trees close together. In the northern part of the State it is usually found in a moist well drained soil, associated with trees such as beech and sugar maple, or in lower ground with slippery elm and linn. It has no particular affinity for streams. In the southern part of the State it is found in both rich and poor soils. However, it is most often met with near the base of slopes.

Remarks.—This tree seldom has a clear bole of more than 3-5 m. and is usually a tree about 20 cm. in diameter, rarely as large as 6 dm. in diameter, although there is a record[48] of a tree in Georgia that was "7 feet in diameter at 3 feet above the ground."

The wood has been a favorite for fence posts since pioneer times. It transplants easily. The fruit is a favorite with birds and for this reason it should be planted about orchards and in woodlots. It is sometimes called the red mulberry to distinguish it from the following species.[49]

Plate 64

2. MACLÙRA. The Osage Orange.Maclura pomÍfera (Rafinesque) Schneider. Hedge. Osage Orange. (Toxylon pomiferum Raf.) Plate 65. Trees with brown shreddy bark on old trees; mature twigs greenish gray, zigzag; spines about 10-15 mm. long; leaves ovate to oblong lanceolate, average blades 7-12 cm. long, wedge-shape, rounded or cordate at the base, long taper-pointed at the apex, margins entire, pubescent on both sides while young, becoming at maturity lustrous and glabrous above, remaining pubescent beneath; fruit globose, about 1 dm. in diameter; wood heavy, very hard and strong, the most durable in contact with the soil of any of our post timbers.

Distribution.—Missouri and Kansas south to Texas. Introduced into Indiana for hedge fences. There is some question as to the ability of this species to escape. I have heard that it frequently sends up root shoots at several feet from hedge fences, and that it frequently seeds itself along old hedge fences. For the past few years I have given the species especial attention and I have never seen it as an escape except in three instances.

Remarks.—This species was formerly much planted for farm fences, but since land has become so valuable, its use has been discontinued, and the old fences are being dug up. The tree grows a short trunk, and one was noted in Grant County that was at least 6 dm. in diameter that was estimated to be less than fifty years old. This species is subject to the San Jose scale and in some localities it has been killed by it. It has been but little used for forest planting, and the plantations are not yet old enough to measure their success.

Plate 65