Subject: Mulberry spp.

From: [email-masked] (Nancy Harrison)
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 1995 07:00:45

On a trip to Manchester, New Hampshire, I found some small Mulberry trees 
growing in cracks in a retaining wall along the Merrimack River.  Using my 
handy Peterson field guide to eastern shrubs & trees, I figured out that they 
were in fact Morus spp.  My question is:  one little tree had immature white 
fruits, blackberry-shaped.  Another had mature fruits, deep red-black in 
color. The leaves on both were deeply lobed, like Oak leaves.  Were these the 
same Morus species?  My field guide was not explicit on immature fruit color. 
Since I am from California, these plants were totally unknown to me.  Can 
someone help?   -Nan from Calif.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 16 Jul 1995 04:00:16 GMT

>someone help?   -Nan from Calif.
The white ones sound like young fruits to me - the mulberry fruits, at least in
MN start white, go through a red/purple stage and finally turn the color of a
blackberry.  Depending on the amount of light, the fruits may be at different
stages of maturity on different trees.
Stephanie

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From: [email-masked] (Karen Schwalbe)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 14:13:09 -0400

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Nancy Harrison)
wrote:

<snip>
> same Morus species? <snip>
 -Nan from Calif.

We have several Mulberry trees on our farm.  The white berried trees are
_Morus alba_ and the red berried trees are _Morus rubra_.  

-Karen

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From: [email-masked] (Mahlon G. Kelly)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 17:43:28 GMT

> someone help?   -Nan from Calif.

We have a 30' tall Morus tree above our parking area. I can
tell you in no uncertain terms that those red fruits are d.....
hard to remove (stains, that is) from a white car. And the
immature fruits are white. I'm surprised that you found then in
NH; that's where I am from and I've not seen Mulberry there. We
have a lot here because there was an attempt at growing silk
worms, probably originated by Jefferson, ca. 1790.
-- 
Associate Professor (Emeritus)
University of Virginia
[email-masked]

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From: Scott Ranger <[email-masked]>
Date: 18 Jul 1995 18:08:19 GMT

Red Mulberry (Morus rubra L.) is our native North American species, with 
a range in rich woods from FL to TX north to sw VT, NW, southern Ontario, 
Minnesota and SD. It can always be told from the alien white mulberry 
because its leave feel rough and look leathery, with deep lines running 
throughout the upper side.  It is not shiny, and up to 10 inches long.  
The fruits start white and change to red or purple when ripe.  Ripe 
fruits permanently stain anything.

White Mulberry (M. alba L.) is an alien that has escaped from cultivation 
(for silk) starting mostly from NY and moving south and west.  The fruits 
start white and can end just about any color, so don't make your ID based 
upon fruit color.  White mulberry leaves are shiny, and generally 
somewhat smaller than red.

Both mulberries have leaves in various shapes, ovate. lobed left, lobed 
right, many lobes, uneven, even.  They are more variable than sassafras.
Our native red becomes more and more uncommon toward the northern end of 
its range.  White mulberry can be found virtually anywhere, as at the 
turn of the century, a myriad of people thought they could get rich by 
cultivating silkworms on mulberry trees, and chose the Asian species.