What Is a White Mulberry Tree?

White Mulberry (Morus alba) Overview

Many names: Chinese white mulberry, Russian mulberry, silkworm mulberry, chi sang, moral blanco. Shrubby fruiting tree with rounded crown, dense branches. "White" from fruit color of some varieties—berries also pink, light to dark purple. Leaves to 7 in, deeply lobed to ovoid. Naturalized on three continents.

History

Native to China, host for silkworms. Cultivated centuries in Old World for silk industry. Early settlers brought to America for domestic silk.

Landscape Value

Debated: adaptable to dry/alkaline soil (good for tough sites) but invasive in some areas. Used for windbreaks, erosion control. Berries attract wildlife but create sticky litter. Weeping/dissected foliage varieties make decorative specimens.

Uses

• Fruit: wine, raw, cooked, preserved.
• Leaves/stems/fruit: traditional medicine.
• Leaves: human vegetable or livestock fodder.
• Wood: flexible—tennis rackets, hockey sticks, furniture, boats, houses.
• Fibrous stems: papermaking.

Varieties

• 'Pendula', 'Chaparral': weeping; 'Chaparral' fruitless.
• 'White Fruiting': extra-large tasty white berries.
• M. alba 'Kokuso': sweet black fruit.
• Dwarf 'Nuclear Blast': 3 ft, lacy dissected foliage.
• 'Green Paper Doll': 10–12 ft, black fruit, attractive cut foliage.

Considerations

Dark fruit stains concrete/pavers. Near seating: choose fruitless ('Fruitless') or white/light-berried cultivars.