RED MULBERR1 



M<nns rubra /.. 



The Mulberrj Familj 



MOB ICEAE 



Habit and Hahilat : A small tree, L5-80 feet high, with B trunk 



diameter of 8-10 baches, in our state, larger farther eastward, with 



a short trunk, and numerous stout spreading, more or less zigzag 

 branches forming a dense, broad, round-topped crown in which th< 

 art- many slender, whip-like branchlets. Prefers the moist, rich soil 

 of woods and bottom-lands, hut may he grown in our ordinary prairie 

 ils. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple, 2-5 inches long, about 

 bread as long, variable in shape, ovate or roundish, often 3-5-lob 

 Srsely serrate, BCUte at the tip. more or less heart shaped at the 

 base, yellow-green or neddish when young, becoming thin, dark blue 



• I'll and smooth or rougfh above, paler and more or less hairy beneath; 

 Petioles l-'J inches long, smooth, with milky juice, bright yellow in early 

 fall. Buds broad, ovate, blunt at the tip. >» inch long, light brown, shiny. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers appearing in May at the same time 

 as the leaves; the staminate in dense clusters, 1-2 inches long, on short 

 hairy pedicels; the pistillate in densely-flowered clusters about 1 inch 

 long:, on short, hair\ -talks; calyx 4-lobed, hairy; corolla 0; stamens 

 4. green; ovary stout, ribbed. Fruit ripening in .July, formed by the 

 ripening of the whole cluster of pistillate flowers, consisting of numerous 

 cherry-like fruits, each about .' ■ inch thick, closely grown together, and 

 inclosed in the fleshy calices, bright red at first, becoming" dark purple or 

 black, juicy, sweet, "flat'', edible. 



Bark. Twigs and Wood: The bark on the main trunk and main 

 branches is dark brown tinged with red, more or less furrowed, and 

 divided into irregular plates, becoming somewhat scaly; twigs greenish, 

 often tinged with red at first, and downy, becoming smooth, red-brown 

 and finally brown. The wood is pale orange colored with thick, lighter 

 colored sapwood, light, soft. weak, tough, coarse-grained, very durable 

 in contact with the soil; used for fence posts, poles and cooperage stock. 



Distribution in the State: Abundant and wide-spread in eastern 

 and southern United States as far west as Missouri from the fort 

 of which state it has entered Nebraska by way of the Missouri river 

 and has extended northwestward along the eastern border of the state 

 to Cedar county, and westward on the southern border t<> Jeffert 

 and Thayer counties. The species has also been widely planted in this 



Map 



Remarks: The mulberry is a rapidly growing tree in moist soil. 



is easily transplanted and on the whole is one of our best native tan 



to grow for fence post material, beca tin- durable nature of the 



wood. The tree i< sometimes used as an ornamental, but some people 



object to it f<»r this purpose hecause of the muss produced by the fruits 

 which fall for a rather long time during tin- ripening period. The 



ithern Indians used t<> weave a coarse cloth from the tOUgh til 

 of the inner bark. 



—107— 



