It took a couple months to get here but was well worth the wait. I’ll post some excerpts.
Looking forward to your reporting on this 
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Flora Iranica was compiled by Austrian botanist K.H. Rechinger from 1963 until his death in 1998, then completed by committee in 2005. It contains 181 fascicles (~chapters), each devoted to a plant family. Individual chapters are available from NHBS.
Structurally, the work is an annotated bibliography. Entries are in Latin. Annotations are in Latin, English, or German – depending on entry. Most fascicles contain plant images and/or illustrations.
The fascicle I’m presenting here is for Moraceae. The primary author is the renown Polish botanist K. Browicz. There are 15 pages of text plus 8 figures. Here is the first page:
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Here’s K. Browicz’ description of the family Moraceae, translated from Latin by Google:
Trees and shrubs, monoecious or dioecious, with milky latex. Leaves alternate, sometimes opposite, deciduous or evergreen, simple, entire or sometimes serrated or lobed; veins pinnate or palmate. Stipules 2, lateral or above the bud forming a cap, often deciduous. Flowers minute, very reduced, actinomorphic, unisexual, capitate or pseudospicate or arranged on the inner face of the concave receptacle. Perianth segments 4, free or connate, reduced or lacking. Male flowers with 4 stamens (or reduced to 1-2), opposite perianth segments; distinct filaments. Female flowers on the superior or inferior ovary, usually unilocular; styles usually 2, filiform. Fruit small, achaenium or drupe. Infructescence syncarpe or syconium. Seeds usually endowed with endosperm.
Next we’ll have a look at each Genus present in greater Iran.
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The first Genus is Morus. K. Browicz begins with a few references, then gives the following general description:
Deciduous trees and shrubs. Gems scales 3-6. Leaves alternate, simple, serrate or toothed, undivided or lobed, with 3-5 nerves arising from the base. Stipules membranous, lateral, small, soon deciduous. Flowers 4-merous, monoecious or dioecious, both sexes in pedunculate axillary panicles. Perianth 4-parted. Stamens 4. Ovary ovoid or subglobose, bilocular, with one abortive sac. 2-part style. Ovule solitary, pendulous. Compressed fruits and drupes enclosed in an expanded succulent perianth, aggregated in an ovoid or cylindrical succulent syncarp. Seeds with fleshy endosperm.
Next we’ll look at 3 Morus species in the study area.
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- Morus nigra
Tree usually not taller than 10 m, forming a dense crown often wider than the height of the tree. Trunk short, scabrous. Shoots thick, strong, juveniles reddish-brown, densely hairy. Leaves about equal in length, 6-12(-20) cm long, broadly ovate, usually undivided or sometimes (in luxuriant specimens) 2-3-lobed, coarsely serrate, acute or shortly acuminate at the apex, deeply cordate at the base, scabrous above, pubescent beneath, especially along the main veins, subcoriaceous. Petiole to 3(-4) cm long, thick, hairy. Male stamens 15-25 mm long, about twice as long as female stamens, supported by both pubescent peduncles. Style hairy. Syncarp oblong-ovate, to 25 mm long, black, shiny, very succulent, sweet.
- M. alba
Tree 10-15(-20) m tall, dense, compact rounded crown, up to 15 m in diameter. Trunk short, bark rough and fissured. Juvenile shoots first pubescent or glabrous. Leaves 5-15 cm, in some forms up to 20-25 cm long, often longer in width, ovate to broadly ovate, apex acute or shortly acuminate, base rounded or truncate or ± cordate, coarsely toothed, often, especially in younger individuals not yet fruiting, variously 3-5(-7)-lobed, above usually smooth and shiny, beneath along the median rib and main veins sparsely hairy, the axils of the veins marked with bundles of hairs. Petiole hairy, 1-5 cm long. Stipules lanceolate, soon deciduous. Male flowers 10-15 mm long, supported by short tomentose peduncles. Female anthers smaller, 5-10 mm long. Styles glabrous. Syncarp 10-25 mm long, usually white but sometimes pinkish-purple or almost black, succulent, sweet and quite tasteless. Drupes pale brown, c. 2 mm long.
Commonly planted in many forms in Asia, Europe, N. Africa, and America. Planted in gardens and along streets and roads. The leaves are utilized as food for silkworms. Fruits are eaten in fresh and dried states.
- M. serrata
Similar to the preceding species, but with trilobed leaves, finely doubly serrated, with a woolly-tomentose syncarpic peduncle.
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Genus Maclura.
Deciduous, lactiferous tree. Branches with axillary spines. Leaves alternate, thinly petiolate, simple, entire, pinnate-nerved, involute vernation. Stipules minute, membranous, deciduous. Flowers dioecious; male pedicellate, stamens 4, arranged in loose globose racemes on long peduncles; female flowers sessile, ovary sessile, style filiform undivided, arranged in a dense globose capitula on long peduncle. Perianth 4-lobed. Achenes oblong, composed in a large globose, mamillato-corticatum syncarp. Seeds without endosperm.
Maclura pomifera.
(sole Maclura species in study region)
Tree to 15-20 m tall. Trunk with deeply fissured, dark orange-brown bark. Hard, yellow wood. Strong spines, 10-25 mm long. Juvenile shoots pubescent, soon glabrous, olive-green. Leaves 5-12(-16) cm long, about twice as long at the base, ovate to lanceolate-oblong, apex ± acuminate, base cuneate to subcordate, entire, above dark green, glabrous and shiny, paler beneath and juveniles especially pubescent along the veins and median rib. Petiole 2-5 cm long. Green flowers inconspicuous, minute. Male inflorescence raceme subglobose, 25-35 mm long, supported by a peduncle equal to or longer than the raceme; racemes globose. Female inflorescence solitary, capitate, densely globose, c. 20 mm in diameter, subsessile or shortly pedunculated. Syncarp subglobose, similar to orange, 10-15 cm in diameter, virescent-yellow. Seed about 10 mm long.
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Genus Broussonetia.
Deciduous trees and milky shrubs. Scale buds 2-3. Leaves alternate or partly opposite, toothed, undivided or 3(-5)-lobed. Lateral stipules, ovate-lanceolate-broad, membranous, deciduous. Flowers dioecious, 4-merous. Male flowers arranged in pendulous cylindrical spikes amentiform; female flowers arranged in globose, shortly pedunculated caps. Ovary stipitate; style subulate, stigmatic throughout. Fruit composed of drupes forming a globose syncarp. Seeds endowed with endosperm.
Broussonetia papyrifera.
Small tree, 3-10 (occasionally 16) m tall. Bark grey, smooth. Branches strong, especially when young softly pubescent. Leaves 4-20 x 3.5-16 cm, broadly ovate to ovate-elliptic, regularly coarsely toothed, apex shortly acuminate, base truncate or slightly cordate, base often asymmetrical, densely scabrous above, velvety or hairy beneath; leaves on longer vegetative shoots and in younger individuals often deeply lobed. Petioles 3-10 cm long, densely hairy. Stipules narrowly triangular-acuminate, 10-15 mm long. Male inflorescences 6-8 cm long. Syncarp 2-3 cm in diameter, orange-red, tomentose. Peduncle c. 1 cm long.
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Genus Ficus.
Trees and shrubs mostly monoecious, lactic, sometimes branched. Leaves semi-evergreen or deciduous, alternate, rarely opposite, simple, entire or serrate, often variously lobed. Stipules connate, including the terminal bud, falling, forming a circular scar. Flowers enclosed in a fleshy, ovoid or globose or pyriform receptacle, provided with a small ostium. Male flowers with a 2-6-partite perianth, with 1-2, rarely 3-6 stamens. Female flowers with a similar perianth or a reduced perianth or none. Ovary straight or oblique, with a solitary short or filiform style, eccentric or lateral. Achenes enclosed in the growing receptacle, forming a fig with it. Endosperm often sparing.
F. carica, F. johannis and F. palmata form a very difficult complex of deciduous figs. Specific limits are far from clear, intra-specific variation in each of the three species is homologous, and their extreme forms further complicate the situation. Many varieties and forms, and even individual species, have been recognised in the past.
The so-called cultivated fig is sometimes thought to have originated from hybridization of several species, with the Arabian peninsula being suggested as the place of origin. On the basis of the rich SW Asiatic collections (though not as yet from Arabia) it can be suggested that, if the cultivated fig is of hybrid origin, then its parents could be F. carica subsp. rupestris and F. johannis; the ranges of these two species overlap in Iran. On the other hand, F. carica subsp. carica seems to represent this very hybrid, cultivated and selected for millenis; it also, as a result anthropo- or zoo-choric dispersal, readily establishes itself. This latter characteristic makes it very difficult to define its true native distribution and has led to differing views about its status in, for instance, the Mediterranean area, the Caucasus, and N Iran.
If this suggested hypothesis is correct then the substantial variation in the leaf lobing of F.carica subsp. carica is more understandable, since it is inherited from F. johannis. The occurrence of forms with un-lobed leaves could be a result of the influence of F. carica subsp. rupestris. It is possible that this taxon deserves to be given specific rank; its range is SW Anatolia, N Syria, N Iraq and SW Iran. However, intermediate forms between subsp. rupestris and subsp. carica are found in the north of the range of subsp. rupestris in Anatolia and Iran.
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F. carica
Deciduous shrub or tree to 10 m tall (or taller). Juvenile branches green, eventually brown, glabrous or ± pubescent; older branches grey, smooth, thick, rigid, few-branched. Leaves 5-20(-35) cm long, sometimes longer, undulate-crenate to dentate, ± lobed or undivided, often cordate, scabrid, often ± pubescent to tomentose beneath, exceptionally subglabrous. Petiole 2-8(-12) cm long, glabrous to tomentose. Individual figs, 2-3 cm (in cultivated forms up to 8 cm) long, pyriform and stipitate or subglobose, sessile or pedicellate, greenish or yellow-green to violet, shortly hairy or (especially in cultivated forms) glabrous. Achenes yellow, subspherical, c. 1.5 mm long.
F. carica subsp. carica
A vigorous shrub or tree. Leaves large, up to 10 cm, sometimes up to 35 cm long, suborbicular, ± lobed, sometimes sublobed; sinuses between the lobes reaching a third or half of the blade, sometimes broad lobes, sometimes much deeper sinuses, sometimes narrow lobes, spathulate, entire margin, only slightly pubescent at the apex. Ficus often pyriform, stippled, sessile or subsessile.
F. carica subsp. rupestris
Mostly shrubby. Leaves broadly ovate to ovate-oblong, clearly longer in width, 5-10(-15) x 4-8(-12) cm, apex often obtusely acute or obtuse, base deeply cordate, both sides scabrous, often softly pubescent beneath. Figs often hairy, varying in shape and size, pyriform, sometimes clearly stipitate or globose, sessile. Pedicel up to 2 cm long. Stipe sometimes thin-most subfiliform, equal to or longer than the pedicel.
rupestris morphology plate:
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Ficus johannis
Shrub 1-3 (sometimes 4) m tall, sometimes a small tree, densely branched. Branchlets rather slender, juvenile pubescent or subglabrous. Leaves usually small, with 3-5 short, incised-serrate lobes folded, sometimes long, narrow lobes sometimes almost reduced to the main veins, base cordate to truncate, veins often very prominent beneath. Petioles pubescent or glabrous. Figs pyriform, sometimes stipe-shaped, or globose, usually distinctly pedicellate.
F. johannis shows an even greater range of variation than F. carica. Sometimes the whole range of leaf lobing can be seen on the same individual; the same also seems to be true for peduncle length and the stipe of the syconium. Some extreme forms have very narrowly lobed leaves and so incised that the leaf blade is almost restricted to the network of the main veins. These latter forms appear to be most frequent on coppice shoots, browsed, pruned or very young individuals. There is no reason to give them separate varietal status.
Because of the great variation of F. johannis it is not surprising that several individual species have been described in the past: F. geraniifolia MIQ., F. persica BOISS., F. malvastrifolia WARB., F. vitifolia WARB. and F. afghanistanica WARB. Only the last named deserves to be maintained, though only at subspecific level. Compared with subsp. johannis it has larger leaves and figs. It appears that, as is also so with F. carica subsp. carica, F. johannis subsp. afghanistanica is a cultivated form possibly originally selected in the Kerman area of Iran.
At the northern limit of its range of F. johannis subsp. afghanistanica hybridizes with F. carica subsp. carica. Thus in southern Turkmenia and in Iranian Khorassan there are individuals with more or less intermediate characteristics.
Ficus johannis subsp. johannis
Leaves usually only 1-3 (sometimes 6) cm long, very variable, shortly and broadly lobed to deeply lobed; sinuses between lobes sometimes almost reaching the base of the blade, sometimes very narrow lobes, completely incised-serrate at the margins; such leaves are usually but not always developed on vegetative branches; leaves are usually pubescent beneath, sometimes on both sides. Petioles 0.5-2(-3) cm long. Figs small, 1-1.5(-2) cm long, usually stipitate. Length of stipules variable, very short, c. 5 mm up to 1.5-2 cm long. Pedicels 0.5-2.5(-3) cm long, as figs ± pubescent.
Two variations (of many) of F. johannis subsp. johannis. Notice the syconia stem lengths compared to their diameters.
Ficus johannis subsp. afghanistanica
Leaves large, usually 7-9(-13) cm long, deeply lobed, scabrous or sub-glabrous, cordate; narrow lobes, especially the median margin, entirely obtusely toothed, provided with secondary deeply incised toothed lobes reaching half the blade. Petiole up to 5 cm long. Figs 2-3(-3.5) cm long, usually pyriform, stippled, glabrous or sometimes densely hairy. Pedicels up to 2 cm long.
Example of F. johannis subsp. afghanistanica. Notice the leaf lobes are wider than some F.j. johannis individuals.
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Thank you for allowing us to partake in your joy.
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Ficus palmata
Ficus palmata subsp. palmata
… occurring in E Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan) and in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, has the leaves more elongate, distinctly acute or acuminate and only weakly pubescent or glabrous. The figs are similarly pubescent.
Ficus palmata subsp. virgata
General distribution: SE Persia, eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal.
Cultivated (landrace) in Pakistan and India. In Pakistan F. palmata subsp. virgata is probably locally selected for fruits. Forms of this species with large leaves more or less cordate at the base are sometimes wrongly considered to be F. carica.
Shrub or small tree, 4-10 cm tall, bark ± smooth. Juvenile branches tomentose or pubescent, often glabrous, purplish-brown. Leaves broadly ovate or suborbicular, mostly 5-10(-12) cm long, apex shortly acute to obtuse, base cuneate or truncate or subcordate, exceptionally cordate, margin ± coarsely dentate or dentate-serrate, mostly not lobed, above or sometimes both sides scabrous, exceptionally subglabrous, softly tomentose beneath. Petiole 1.5-5(-7) cm long, softly tomentose. Figs axillary, solitary, subglobose or pyriform and then stipitate, 1.5-2.5 cm long, pedicellate, mostly tomentose, yellow to purple when ripe. Stipe 2-10(-12) mm long. Pedicel 4-15(-20) mm long, densely pubescent.
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Ficus religiosa
Large tree with spreading branches up to 10 m tall; trunk short, in old specimens irregular in shape. Juvenile branches and almost all parts (except leaf buds and stipules) glabrous. Leaves evergreen, simple, entire, slightly undulate, deltoid-ovate, 6-15 (-18) x 4-10 (-12) cm, abruptly attenuated at the apex and long-tailed (tail reaching 1/½ the length of the blade), base cuneate-truncate to subcordate, dark green above, shiny, paler beneath, nerves 8-12 in pairs. Petioles (4) 6-10 (-11) cm long, smooth. Figs sessile, globose, ± vertically compressed, arranged in pairs axillary, dark purple at maturity, up to 12 mm in diameter. Achenes pyriform, c. 2 mm long.
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Ficus benghalensis
Large, evergreen tree, up to 15-20 m tall, epiphytic when young, often rooting from densely spreading subhorizontal branches; aerial roots also arising from the trunk. Juvenile shoots pubescent, finally ± glabrous. Leaves leathery, approximate to the ends of the branches, 8-21 x 5-14 cm, ovate to orbicular or elliptic, rounded or obtusely acute at the apex, rounded to subcordate at the base, entire margin, softly and briefly pubescent beneath. Petiole 1.5-4(-5) cm long, thick, pubescent. Figs in pairs near the apex of the branches axillary, ± globose, 12-15 mm in diameter, pubescent, red when ripe.
Commonly planted as a shade tree along roadside and in the vicinity of villages, particularly near reservoirs of water.
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Ficus racemosa
Medium to large tree, evergreen, smooth bark. Branches glabrous. Leaves 8-18 cm long, ovate or elliptic-ovate or elliptic-lanceolate, obtusely attenuated at apex, acute or obtuse at base, entire, membranous, glabrous when mature, 4-6(-8) pairs of nerves. Petiole 2-4 cm long. Figs subglobose, 2.5-4 cm in diameter, orange to red at maturity, arising from short aphyllous branches from the base of the major branches.
Ficus foveolata
A climbing or creeping shrub, rooting at the nodes. Juvenile shoots pubescent, adults glabrous. Leaves ovate or elliptic to lanceolate, very variable in shape, size, pubescence, thickness, (4-)6-12(-15) cm long, acuminate at the apex, rounded-cordate to subcuneate at the base, entire margin, glabrous above, slightly pubescent beneath along the median rib and veins; consistency rigidly membranous to slightly leathery, evergreen, lateral veins in pairs (7-)8-10(-12); petiole 6-14 mm long, pubescent. Axillary figs mostly solitary, ovoid-subglobose to globose, 8-16 mm in diameter, pubescent. Pedicel 3-7 mm long, pubescent.
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For further reading …
Chorology of the Euxinian and Hyrcanian element in the woody flora of Asia.
Kazimierz Browicz
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