Summary ³

Morus alba, known as white mulberry, is a fast-growing, small to medium-sized mulberry tree which grows to 10–20 m tall. It is generally a short-lived tree with a lifespan comparable to humans, although there are some specimens known to be over 250 years old. The species is native to northern China, and is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere (United States, Mexico, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Argentina, etc.).

Description ⁴

Family:
Moraceae (Mulberry)

Height:
20 to 50 feet

Habit:
Irregular growth; Multiple-stemmed shrub or tree, or single-stemmed tree

Leaves:
Alternate leaves with irregular lobes, often resembling a mitten. Leaf edges are coarsely toothed.

Bark:
Orange to brown, mostly flat with shallow furrows

Flower:
Green or yellow flowers form clusters (catkins) up to 2" long

Fruit:
Clusters of white or pink fruit, turning purple when ripe. Resemble blackberries.

Bloom time:
May-June

Fall color:
Yellow

Habitat:
Disturbed areas, forest edges, along streams

Notes:
White Mulberry is an invasive species that has spread rapidly across large areas due to its tolerance of a wide variety of environmental conditions.
Minnesota also has a native mulberry species, the Red Mulberry (Morus rubra), which closely resembles White Mulberry; however, Red Mulberry is not nearly as widely distributed, and typically lacks the mitten-like, lobed leaves that characterize White Mulberry. These two species are also known to hybridize (Morus alba x rubra), often making correct species-level identification difficult.

References:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/white-mulberry
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/wh_mulberry.htm

Range ⁴

Sources and Credits

1. (c) aarongunnar, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by aarongunnar
2. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, all rights reserved, uploaded by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
3. Adapted by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morus_alba
4. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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