MORACEAE 



Red Mulberry 

 Morus rubra L. 



HABIT. A small tree 20-40 feet high and 8-15 inches in 

 diameter (max. 70 by 3Vi feet); dense, round-topped crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; suborbicular; 3-5 inches long; 

 unlobed or deeply 1-3 lobed; margins coarsely serrate; thin; 

 deciduous; dark blue-green and smooth or rough above; paler 

 and more or less hairy below. 



FLOWERS. Monoecious or dioecious; minute; appearing 

 with the leaves; in dense spikes; calyx 4-lobed, green; corolla 

 absent. 



FRUIT. Drupaceous, enclosed in thickened, berry-like calyx 

 and united into a multiple fruit (syncarp) which resembles a 

 blackberry; 1-114 inches long; purple; oblong; edible. 



TWIGS. Slender; brown; smooth. Winter buds: terminal 

 absent, lateral ovoid, acute, lustrous, V4 inch long, light brown, 



BARK. Thin; dark brown tinged with red; scaly and furrowed. 



WOOD. Rather heavy and hard; ring-porous; dark; unim- 

 portant. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Tolerant; on rich, moist sites; 

 taproot. 



The 2 native and 3 naturalized mulberries can be separated 

 by the following characters: 



1 . Fruits ovoid to cylindric ; buds with 3-6 outer scales Morus 



2. Leaves usually rough above, hairy below, usually undivided 

 on old shoots, 2V^-6 inches long. 

 3. Leaves truncate or slightly heart-shaped at base; fruit dark 



purple at maturity; native M. rubra L., Red Mulberry 



3. Leaves deeply heart-shaped at base; fruit dark red; Asiatic 



M. nigra L., Black Mulberry 



2. Leaves smooth above, nearly glabrous below, variously lobed. 

 3. Leaves 21/2-7 inches long, lustrous; fruit white, pink, or 



violet; Chinese M. alba L., White Mulberry 



3. Leaves 1-2 inches long; fruit nearly black; Arizona to west 



Texas M. microphylla Buckl., Texas Mulberry 



1. Fruits globose, orange-red; buds with 2-3 outer scales; leaves 



1-3 lobed, 3-8 inches long, velvety hairy below; Asiatic 



Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Nent., Paper-mulberry 



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