Morus celtidifolia

Morus celtidifolia, the Texas mulberry, is a plant species native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States, ranging from Argentina north as far as Arizona and Oklahoma. In the USA, it grows in canyons and on slopes, usually near streams, from 200–2,200 m (660–7,220 ft) elevation. It is very often referred to as "Morus microphylla," including in Flora of North America,[5] but recent studies suggest that these names are synonymous with M. celtidifolia holding priority.[2][3][6][6][7][8][9]

Morus celtidifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Moraceae
Genus:	Morus
Species:	M. celtidifolia
Binomial name
Morus celtidifolia Kunth 1817[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
Morus albida Greene Morus arbuscula Greene Morus betulifolia Greene Morus canina Greene Morus confinis Greene Morus corylifolia Kunth Morus crataegifolia Greene Morus goldmanii Greene Morus grisea Greene Morus mexicana Benth. Morus microphilyra Greene Morus microphylla Buckley[4] Morus mollis Rusby Morus pandurata Greene Morus radulina Greene Morus vernonii Greene Morus vitifolia Greene

Morus celtidifolia is a shrub or tree, sometimes reaching 7.5 m (25 ft) in height. It has much smaller leaves than the other two species in the United States (M. alba and M. rubra), the blade usually less than 7 cm (2.8 in) long. The edible fruits[10] are red, purple, or nearly black,[1][4][11][12] and are consumed by wildlife, and, historically, by Native Americans. In ancient (probably prehistoric) times, the Havasupai people introduced the species to the Grand Canyon.[13]

References

1. Kunth, Karl (Carl) Sigismund (1817). Nova Genera et Species Plantarum. 2 (4th ed.). p. 33.
2. "Morus celtidifolia". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden.
3. "Morus celtidifolia". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Gardens – via The Plant List.
4. Buckley, Samuel Botsford (1862). "Descriptions of new plants from Texas – no. 2". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 14 (1): 8.
5. Wunderlin, Richard P. (1997). "Morus microphylla". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). 3. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
6. Berg, C. C. 2001. Moreae, Artocarpeae, and Dorstenia (Moraceae) with introductions to the family and Ficus and with additions and corrections to Flora Neotropica Monograph 7. Flora Neotropica 83: iii–iv, 1–346.
7. Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2013. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
8. Berg, C. C. 1998. 27B. Moraceae (excl. Ficus). 60: 1–128. In G. W. Harling & L. Andersson (eds.), Flora of Ecuador .University of Göteborg, Göteborg.
9. Linares, J. L. 2005. Listado comentado de los árboles nativos y cultivados en la república de El Salvador. Ceiba 44(2): 105–268.
10. Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 432. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
11. Thomas H. Kearney & Robert H. Peebles. 1979. Arizona Flora, with Supplement, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley.
12. P. Martin et al. 2000. Gentry's Rio Mayo Plants. The Tropical Deciduous Forest & Environs of Northwest Mexico. University of Arizona Press, Tucson
13. Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 425. ISBN 0394507614.