Leaf:  Alternate, simple; blades ovate, sort-pointed at the tip, rounded or cut straight across the base, up to 5 inches long and nearly as broad, coarsely round-toothed, sometimes 2-lobed, sometimes 3-lobed, sometimes deeply several-lobed, sometimes unlobed; green and smooth to the touch on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface, except for a few hairs sometimes on the veins; leafstalks up to 2 inches long, smooth.

Flower:  Tiny and greenish; male and female on same or separate trees in spring, appearing as the leaves unfold; the staminate crowded into narrow green clusters up to 2 inches long, the pistillate crowded into short, thick spikes up to 1 inch long.

Fruit:  3/8 to 1 1/4 inches long; a cylindrical cluster of tiny drupes; purplish, pinkish, or white; composed of many tiny, beadlike, single-seeded fruits, sweet and juicy, edible; blooms in late spring.

Twig:  Slender, yellowish, smooth or sometimes hairy, more or less zigzag; leaf scars alternate, half-round, elevated, with numerous bundle traces.

Bark:  Light brown, sometimes tinted with orange, smooth when young, becoming furrowed into long, scaly plates.

Form:  Small to medium tree up to 50 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2 feet; broadly rounded crown of spreading branches. 

 

Discussion

The white mulberry has been cultivated for centuries with the leaves being used as food for silkworms.  It was introduced in the southeast United States to found a silk industry, though that venture failed.  White mulberry grows rapidly and produces abundant berries that are enjoyed by birds as well as by many people.  The trees spread like weeds in cities, where the berries litter the sidewalks.

Distinguishing Characteristics   

The white mulberry lacks hairs on the lower surface of the leaves except sometimes along the veins, thus differing from the red mulberry.

Distribution

Native of Asia; naturalized from Maine to Minnesota, south to Texas, east to Georgia.

Images

Click each small picture to see a larger image.

Upper surface June, 2003	Lower surface June, 2003
	Summer twig June, 2003	Young fruits June, 2003

Location

Southernmost loop of fitness trail, Loveless Park, South Locust Street, Carlinville, Macoupin County, Illinois. 

Copyright

Photos © 2002 Ashley Drake and  James Blackledge, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net

References

Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Forest Trees of Illinois, 1996, Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Elbert L. Little, Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region, 1980, Alfred A. Knopf.

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