Narrative

Bo tree or sacred fig (Ficus religiosa) is native to Vietnam and Thailand. It is also found from the Himalayas to southern China. This is rarely found in Florida, North America as an escapee.

This lifeform is found in the region from northern India towards Malaysia. This lifeform is found in Florida, USA.

Figs (Ficus genus) are found worldwide in the tropics and semi-tropics. There are about 800 known species. These can be vines, shrubs, or trees. Kartesz shows 12 species growing in greater North America which includes Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The leaves are usually simple, but can be lobed in young specimens. Ficus is also applied to a genus of marine shells commonly called fig shells.

Mullberry Family (Moraceae) has over 1,000 species with perhaps seventy genera. The Classification of the Mulberries found in the eastern and central United States is somewhat confusing. The species are as follows:

Red Mullberry (Morus rubra) is native to the United States, and it is found in rich woods.

Red Mullberry (Morus tatarica or perhaps Morus alba tatarica) is not native to the United States. This species is very, very common in the Chicago area, for example. It is found in vacant lots, along fence lines, and is everywhere abundant.

White Mullberry (Morus alba) is not native to the United States, but it is found frequently as an introduced species.

Elm and Mullberry Order (Urticales) is usually broken down into four different families.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings.

Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite (Aster) Family flowers like the Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.