Mulberry

White mulberry

By Kim Willis These articles are copyrighted and may not be copied or used without the permission of the author.

I personally don’t find mulberry fruit very appealing, it’s pretty bland.  But the birds and a lot of different animals consider mulberries as candy.  If you enjoy bird watching, plant a mulberry tree; just make sure it’s a good distance from your clothesline or where you park your car.  And some people do enjoy the fruit.

The red mulberry Morus rubra is native to Eastern North America from Canada south to the gulf.  It was once very common and widespread but is now listed as endangered in Canada, Connecticut and Massachusetts and threatened in Michigan and Vermont.  If you like attracting butterflies the red mulberry is the host or larval plant for the Mourning Cloak butterfly.

The white mulberry Morus alba is native to China and was brought to North America in an attempt to start a silk industry because silk worms feed on the leaves.  It has escaped cultivation and has naturalized in many places.  Some areas consider it an invasive plant.  There are, however cultivars of white mulberry such as ‘Pendula’ that are used as landscape plants.

Both mulberries are smaller trees growing to about 35-40 feet high at maturity.  They prefer full sun conditions in good loamy soil but will grow in partial shade.  Red mulberry is more tolerant of shade and often found in the wild in the partial shade of larger trees.  In the wild both are often found along streams and on the edges of woodlands, white mulberry is more common in open sunny fields. White mulberry has been used for erosion control.  Trees have rounded crowns, with abundant branching and branches close to the ground.  Branching is alternate.

Both mulberries have oval leaves to lobed leaves, lobed leaves usually are on younger branches.  Red mulberries leaves are rough feeling to the touch and dull green, while white mulberries are smoother and have a glossy surface.  Red mulberries have a hairy back surface and a finely serrated edge.  White mulberry leaves have deeper serrations on the edge and are larger than red mulberry leaves. The bark of red mulberry trees is flat scales of red brown, often young trees have a reddish sheen when wet.  White mulberry bark has raised ridges with a yellow- tan inner bark showing between the ridges.

The flowers of both mulberries are inconspicuous long catkin like clusters of greenish white and are wind pollinated.  Here’s the confusing part.  Some references list both species as being dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate trees.  Others list both species as having separate male and female flowers on the same tree.  Some references state the trees can be either type of flowering.  The pollen of mulberries is very allergenic so if you have allergies you may not want a tree nearby.

Personally, I have never seen a mulberry without fruit, which would indicate it’s a male tree.  All the mulberries I have known always have fruit in season, which means they were all female and I never saw the male, or they have both male and female flowers.  I know my current tree has both sexes of flowers.  It’s a white mulberry.

Anyway, in both red and white mulberries the flowers turn into long blackberry like fruit in early summer.  Despite its name most white mulberry trees fruit ripens to deep red or purple.  Red mulberry fruit ripens to purple- black.  A few white mulberry trees have white or pink fruit when ripe.  The fruit is sweet and perfectly edible.  Beware it can stain hands and things the berries land on, as can the poop from birds eating the berries.

Identification of mulberries can be tricky as the two species can hybridize although no one knows how common this is.  There are other species of mulberry that are sometimes brought in as cultivated plants.

You can start mulberries from seed quite easily, although they need a period of cold stratification.  Mulberry cuttings also root easily.  Most gardeners will want to start with a small tree, which will grow rapidly and fruit in just a few years.  Some nurseries sell mulberry trees, usually white mulberry cultivars.

Mulberries have few pests or diseases.  They only need fertilization in the poorest soils and are moderately drought tolerant once established.  While they will grow in partial shade fruiting is best in full sun.

Uses of mulberry

The fruits of mulberry have been used for centuries in jams and jellies and to make wine.  They can be eaten fresh too.  They can be turned into pies and cobblers.  To collect the fruit people often put something under the tree like a sheet and then shake the tree.  Birds adore the fruit and animals like squirrels, raccoons, opossums also like them.  Box turtles will eat the fallen fruit.

Mulberry syrup was often used to hide the flavors of medicines.  Mulberries were used in both Native American and Chinese medicine.  Fruits were used to cure constipation and other digestive problems, for urinary tract problems, in the treatment of fatigue and weakness, and for blood sugar control among other things.  Mulberry juice was used to treat baldness and graying hair.

The inner bark of red mulberries was separated into fibers that were woven into clothing by Native Americans.  Shoots were woven into baskets.  Mulberry wood makes good fence posts and the wood is used to smoke meat and give it a sweet pleasant taste.

The shoots, leaves and unripe fruit of mulberries is mildly toxic and may result in severe digestive upsets if eaten.