ted; 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 1/2
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.

[Illustration: 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.

=Morus alba, L.=

Probably a native of China, where its leaves have from time immemorial
furnished food for silkworms; extensively introduced and naturalized in
India and central and southern Europe; introduced likewise into the
United States and Canada from Ontario to Florida; occasionally
spontaneous near dwellings, old trees sometimes marking the sites of
houses that have long since disappeared.

It may be distinguished from _M. rubra_ by its smooth, shining leaves,
its whitish or pinkish fruit, and its greater susceptibility to frost.

MAGNOLIACEAE. MAGNOLIA FAMILY.

=Liriodendron Tulipifera, L.=

TULIP TREE. WHITEWOOD. POPLAR.

=Habitat and Range.=--Prefers a rich, loamy, moist soil.

Vermont,--valley of the Hoosac river in the southwestern corner of the
state; Massachusetts,--frequent in the Connecticut river valley and
westward; reported as far east as Douglas, southeastern corner of
Worcester county (R. M. Harper, _Rhodora_, II, 122); Rhode Island and
Connecticut,--frequent, especially in the central and southern portions
of the latter state.

South to the Gulf states; west to Wisconsin; occasional in the
eastern sections of Missouri and Arkansas; attains great size in
the basins of the Ohio and its tributaries, and southward along the
Mississippi river bottoms.

=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 50-70 feet high; trunk 2-3 feet in
diamet