Mulberry Trees: No, Not a Blackberry Tree

As a transplant to the South Eastern region of the United States, I had never heard of a mulberry tree until I noticed some glistening blackberry shaped fruits that had landed in my garden. Given that there were no nearby blackberry bushes and the unlikelihood of birds dropping such fresh food, I looked around for a source but gave it up to random chance when my search came up empty. When there was three times as many berries littering the ground the next day, I finally looked up and saw a canopy of branches that were littered with fresh berries. A blackberry tree? Why I had not been informed?

Mulberries

I quickly discovered that my so-called blackberry tree was in fact a Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) which grows throughout the eastern North America. Red Mulberry trees earn their name by virtue of the bright shade of red their fruit becomes before ripening into black. Happily, they are not only edible but are quite delicious with a dark berry flavor missing the blackberry tang. The berries are used in jams, pies and beverages, and there are several mulberry recipes that can be found here on Associated Content. They are also a hot commodity for birds, small mammals and insects.

Health Benefits of Mulberries

Mulberries have a number of health benefits. They contain reservatrol, the same nutrient found in grapes that prevents certain forms of cancer. They are also a good source of iron, which makes them helpful in deterring anemia. The Chinese use their species of mulberry for a variety of uses, including to promote liver and kidney health, as a blood tonic and a variety of other applications.

Mulberry Trees

Red Mulberry trees grow from ten to fifteen meters in height and can be identified out of season by their distinctive leaves. Their leaves are usually without lobes, serrated, and ovular with a little notch at the base. Younger tree leaves may have a couple of lobes in their leaves as they mature. Like many fast growing trees, most of the wood is fairly weak and not used in many commercial settings. In recent years, the Red Mulberry has been hybridizing with the White Mulberry (Morus alba), an invasive plant that is used in its native habitat to feed silkworms.

SOURCES:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/39090/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_rubra
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/DENDRO/DENDROLOGY/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=58
http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/plant.asp?symbol=MORU2
http://forestry.about.com/od/silviculture/p/mulberry.htm
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-mulberries.html