Moraceae

common fig

 

MORACEAE

Gaudich.

pronounced: vmore--AY-see-eye

the fig family

 

Morus was the Latin name for the mulberry tree, a member of this family. Nearly all plants of the family exude a milky sap. The leaves are simple, and generally alternate. The stipules are small and lateral, or sometimes they form a cap over the bud and leave a cylindrical scar. The flowers are unisexual and minute, and usually densely aggregated. A typical male flower has 4 stamens, one opposite each perianth segment. The female flowers have a pistil with 2 carpels, generally with 2 styles, although one may be suppressed. The ovary may be either superior or inferior, and contains a single pendulous ovule in a solitary locule. The individual fruits are small achenes or nuts, or drupes, often clustered into a multiple fruit, either a syncarp or a syconium.

 

Illustration by C.J. Trew via Wikimedia Commons