
Morus.
The mulberry
EMBLEMA CCIX.
Serior at morus numquam nisi frigore lapso
Germinat:[1] & sapiens nomina falsa[2] gerit.
On the other hand, the mulberry is late, and never until the frost is past does it shoot; though wise, it bears a false name.
1. See Pliny, Natural History, 16.25.102: “the mulberry is the last of domesticated trees to shoot, and only does so when the frosts are over; for that reason it is called the wisest of trees”.
2. nomina falsa, ‘a false name’, reference to a supposed ‘etymology by opposites’: Latin morus ‘mulberry’ was equated with Greek μῶρος ‘fool’, but the tree was considered wise: see note 1.
Related Emblems

- Declaracion magistral sobre las Emblemas de Andres Alciato (1615), Najera: MORUS. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1621), Padua: Morus. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libellus (1546), Venice: Morus. | Open in other pane
- Los Emblemas (1549), Lyon: El Moral. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1550), Lyon: Morus. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata (1551), Lyon: Morus. | Open in other pane
- Emblematum libri II (Stockhamer) (1556), Lyon: Morus. | Open in other pane
- Toutes les emblemes (1558), Lyon: Le Morier. | Open in other pane
- Liber emblematum ... Kunstbuch (1567), Franckfurt am Main: Morus. Maulberbaum. | Open in other pane
- Diverse imprese (1551), Lyon: MANDORLO. | Open in other pane
- Emblemes (1549), Lyons: Le Morier. | Open in other pane
- Emblemata / Les emblemes (1584), Paris: Morus. Le Meurier. | Open in other pane
- Les emblemes (1615), Geneva/Cologny: Le meurier. | Open in other pane
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Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- trees: mulberry-tree (+ plants used symbolically) [25G3(MULBERRY-TREE)(+1)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees: mulberry-tree (+ bearing fruit) [25G3(MULBERRY-TREE)(+34)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- frost, freezing weather [26D] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Precaution (+ emblematical representation of concept) [52A24(+4)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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