Skip to main content
Moraceae

Moraceae

9.9
A family of trees and shrubs whose members often have milky sap and include figs and mulberries
  • noun
  • /mɔːˈreɪsiː/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Moráceas
  • Ficus (Moraceae) is arguably one of the most important plant genera in lowland tropical rainforests.
  • Moraceae family

Examples

  • The Moraceae family includes a variety of fruit-bearing trees like figs and mulberries.

  • Responding to the absence of this important species, Bahian babalorixas long ago substituted the native Ficus doliaria, also in the Moraceae family.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Finally, like all Moraceae, figs are protected by latex, a costly but efficient defense against herbivores.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Figs (Ficus, Moraceae) would qualify on the basis of any of these criteria.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Pipemo tentatively identified them as fruits from a tree of the family Moraceae, quite possibly durian or jackfruit, both of which are common throughout tropical Southeast Asia.

    Academic text (1991)
  • In Nigeria and Benin, this deity resides in the native African Chlorophora excelsa, a gigantic, buttressed tree in the Moraceae family.

    Academic text (1990)
  • MULBERRY FAMILY (Moraceae)

    Blog text (1)
  • Members of the Moraceae, such as the breadfruit tree, are known for their milky sap.

  • Fruits from the Moraceae family, like jackfruit and durian, are often found in tropical markets.

Synonyms

family Moraceae
vsMoraceae
  • Specialized
9.2

A group of trees and shrubs with milky sap, including figs and mulberries

is the same but given as the formal scientific name
mulberry family
vsMoraceae
  • Specialized
7.2

A family of trees and shrubs with milky sap like mulberry and fig

is identical in meaning but uses the Latin taxonomic term

Compounds

family Moraceae
  • Specialized
9.2

A group of trees and shrubs with milky sap, including figs and mulberries

Surface Forms

Moraceae singular
Moraceae plural

Morphology

Moraceae = Morus (opaque) = Morus + aceae

The formation follows a regular botanical pattern (genus name + '-aceae' meaning 'family'), but this is domain-specific and not obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Moraceae comes from the Latin name Morus meaning 'mulberry' and the plant-family ending -aceae. So Moraceae is the 'mulberry family', the group of trees and shrubs that includes mulberries, figs and other related plants.