White Mulberry

When white mulberry trees are young, their bark appears orange-brown with lenticels. As they age, they become gray with long, uneven ridges. The bark appears damaged, although it has a zigzag pattern, and its scales frequently lack dark borders. 

It is best to admire this tree in the spring or summer season. Small white flowers with no petals are borne in little clusters called catkins. They are unisexual, but male and female flowers are usually on a single tree. Wind pollination transfers sperm-containing pollen from the male to the female flowers, where fertilization can occur. The fertilized eggs develop into fruits from May through late July, when observing the white mulberry tree is best.  

The tree’s cylindrical fruits are pink, white, or purple when close to being ripe. The pigment responsible for mulberries’ deep red and purple colors is anthocyanin. The amount of anthocyanin increases as the fruit ripens. The fruit resembles a raspberry or blackberry, but it differs from those. It is called a multiple fruits because many separate flowers fuse into a single fruit that lacks defined fruitlets that you can see in a raspberry or blackberry. The latex produced by the berries is toxic or hallucinogenic before they are ripe, but they are edible for humans once they are ripe. Birds and other wildlife like foxes, squirrels, and skunks disperse berries. 

Silkworms benefit from the white mulberry as their main food source from leaves. This tree and its worms produce commercial silk in India and China. White mulberry pills are also taken as a treatment for high blood sugar. The bark is also used in medicine, and the fiber from the bark can be utilized to make textiles and paper. 

*This resource is a product of Dr. Sara Wright’s Plant Diversity course in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department.