Order XXX. Moraceae.

Moreae, Endlicher.

Characters.—Flowers unisexual. Males:—Calyx 0, or 3—4-parted. Stamens 3—4, inserted into the bese of the calyx and opposite its segments. Females:—Calyx 0, or 4—5-parted. Ovary 1-celled, rarely 2-celled. Ovules solitary, pendulous, or amphitropal, with the foramen uppermost. Fruit small nuts or utricles, 1-seeded, inclosed within the succulent receptacle, or collected in a fleshy head formed by the consolidated succulent cnlyx. Seed solitary, with a thin brittle testa; embryo lying in fleshy albumen, hooked, with the radicle long, superior, folded down towards the cotyledons.—Trees or shrubs, with a milky juice. Leaves furnished with stipules.

Properties.—Various. The milky juice of some species is bland and potable; of others acrid and poisonous. In India, Ficus elastica yields caoutchouc. Maclura tinctoria furnishes the dyewood called Fustic, whose colouring principle is termed morine.


The Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Vol. II, 3th American ed., was written by Jonathan Pereira in 1854.