MORACEAE

MULBERRY FAMILY

Elizabeth McClintock

Perennial, shrub, vine, tree, generally with milky juice, monoecious or dioecious
Leaves alternate or opposite, generally simple, evergreen or deciduous, entire to lobed, petioled; stipules sometimes ± 0
Inflorescence: raceme, spike, head, or flowers enclosed in thickened receptacle tissue, axillary
Flower unisexual, small, ± radial; sepals generally 4, free or fused at base; petals 0; stamens generally 4, opposite sepals; ovary generally superior, 1-chambered, style simple or 2-parted
Fruit: multiple achenes within fleshy calyces or surrounded by fleshy receptacle tissue
Genera in family: ± 40 genera, 900–1000 species: tropical, subtropical, some temp; many cultivated (Ficus ; Artocarpus , breadfruit, jackfruit; Morus ). Pollinated by insects or wind. See Cannabaceae for Cannabis , Humulus , sometimes included in this family.

FICUS

FIG

Shrub, vine, tree, sometimes growing on other plants, unarmed, monoecious
Leaves entire or lobed, deciduous or evergreen; major veins palmate
Inflorescence: flowers internal, enclosed within a pear-shaped or spheric inflorescence receptacle with a small, scale-covered opening at top
Pistillate flower: style simple
Fruit: multiple of achenes within fleshy inflorescence receptacle. <
Species in genus: 500 species: tropical, subtropical
Etymology: (Latin: fig)
Pollination complex, mediated primarily by small wasps.

Introduced

F. carica L.

EDIBLE FIG

Plant < 10 m
Leaf: petiole < 10 cm; blade 10–20 cm, broadly ovate to ± round, upper surface ± scabrous, lower surface hairy, major lobes generally 3–7, palmate, generally > halfway to midrib, each ± pinnately lobed
Fruit 5–8 cm, variable in color
Ecology: Moist, disturbed areas, persisting near old habitations
Elevation: < 800 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Central Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast
Distribution outside California: native to Mediterranean
Commonly cultivated.