Food Plants International - Plant Fact Sheets Morus alba - White Mulberry

Edible portion: Leaves, Fruit, Flowers, Bark, Leaves - tea, Manna, Vegetable

A small tree up to 9 m high but it can grow to 20 m tall. Often it is low and spreading. It has dark green toothed leaves. The leaves vary considerably in shape even on the one tree. They can be oval, heart shaped or 3 lobed and 5-15 cm long. The tip is pointed and the leaf is on a stalk 5 cm long. The upper surface is smooth but there can be some hairs on the veins underneath. Male and female flowers occur separately either on the same or separate plants. The flowers are greenish and in spikes which droop down. The fruit is a dark red or black berry but pale kinds also occur. The fruit is about 2 cm long.

It is native to N. China. A warm temperate plant. The white mulberry (Morus alba ) is normally used for silk worms and the black mulberry suits more highland regions. The normal range is 700 to 2200 m altitude in the tropics. In India it grows to 3,300 m altitude. Once established it can tolerate heat and drought. Hobart Botanical Gardens. It is winter hardy and can tolerate salt. It can grow in arid places. It grows in Miombo woodland in Africa. It suits hardiness zones 4-10. Arboretum Tasmania. In Yunnan. In Sichuan.