5. Morus L., Sp. Pl. 986. 1753. Gen. Pl. ed. 5. 424. 1754; Benth. & Hook., Can. Pl. 3: 364.1880; Hutch., Gen. Fl. A. 2: 156. 1967.
ABDUL GHAFOOR
Deciduous, monoecious or dioecious, unarmed laticiferous trees and shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, dentate, 3-5costate from the base, undivided or 3.5-lobed; stipules lateral, membranous, caducous. Male inflorescence axillary, long-peduncled, cylindrical catkin. Male flowers: sepals 4, busily united, lobes imbricate; stamens 4, inflexed in bud, soon exserted; pistillode present, turbinate. Female inflorescence long or short peduncled, axillary catkins. Female flowers: sepals 4, united at the base, imbricate, persistent and fleshy in fruit; ovary ovoid or subglobose, ovule pendulous, style 2-partite; staminodes absent. Fruit a juicy cylindrical-ovoid sorosis of druplets enclosed by the enlarged succulent calyces. Seeds subglobose, endospermous.
A genus of c. 10 species, distributed in E. temperate N. America, S.W. United States of America to Andes, tropical Africa, S.W. Asia eastwards to Japan; introduced in Europe and elsewhere. Represented in Pakistan by 4 species.
