Red Mulberry

All Featured Species

Red Mulberry

(Morus rubra)

The Mulberry Family (Moraceae)

Medium tree with alternate, deciduous leaves that can be unlobed or two or three-lobed; gray-brown, scaly bark.

Habitat:

Shaded woods, streams, river banks, ditches, ravines, depressions.

Interesting Facts:

Ripe fruit eaten raw or made into jellies, jams and desserts; but unripe berries and milky sap can be poisonous if consumed. Native Americans used sap as a treatment for ringworms and tea made from roots as an anti-parasitic. Fibrous inner-bark produces a sturdy fiber for rope and clothing. Host to the Mourning Cloak Butterfly.

Fruit:

Resembles elongated blackberries, cylindrical, 1-1.25” long, red-black with multiple seeds in each, matures in spring.

Flower:

Male: pale green 2-3" long hanging catkins; Female: pale green 1" long catkins; both appearing in late winter.

Wildlife value:

Ripe fruit favorite spring food source for mammals, butterflies, and many fruit eating birds, including the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

Fruit