RED MULBERRY
Morus rubra
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Red Mulberry Morus rubra
A small tree, 15 to 60 feet high. The bark is rough, with long furrows. The twigs are a light greenish brown and the leaf-scars are oval, hollow, and alternate in arrangement. The bundle-scars form a closed chain around the leaf-scar. A milky juice comes if the stems are cut on warm days in winter. Very smooth buds.
The red mulberry is not particularly attractive in winter. In open situations its branches are wide spreading without being graceful, and it is broadly erect in shape without being stately. It grows to be a much larger tree in the South than it does in the North.
The wood is soft and light, but very durable, and it is used for fences and cooperage, and in the South for boat-building. The fruit is edible, with an agreeable acid flavor.
The generic name, Morus, is probably derived from the Celtic word mor, meaning black, in reference to the color of the fruit. The specific name, rubra, is given to this species because the mulberries are dark red instead of white, like those of Morus alba.
The red mulberry is found growing wild in Western Massachusetts, south to Florida and westward. It is frequently planted in gardens for its fruit.
White Mulberry Morus alba
A small tree, with a rough bark, small, round brown buds, and small projecting alternate leaf-scars with clearly defined bundle-scars. The buds are smaller and more rounded than those of the red mulberry. It is easily distinguished from the red mulberry by its more numerous and slender shoots.