Mulberry

Scientific name: Morus spp. (all species of Mulberry)

Estimated tree age: 135 years old

Both the red mulberry and the white mulberry are grown in Ohio – the red is native to the United States while the white is originally native to China. The features of the two trees are quite similar, with the color of their ripe fruit (which gives the trees their names) being the primary distinction. Red mulberry trees are typically the taller variety, growing to about 60 feet, as well as being more open and gangly. Red mulberry leaves are generally rough on the top side and hairy on the underside and pointed at their base, unlike white mulberry which is smooth and rounded at the base. Historically, silkworms eat the leaves of the white mulberry tree to spin silk - in fact, these are the only leaves that the silkworm will eat.

Photo from Grandview Heights TreePlotter.

The golden brown bark of the white mulberry tree lightly fissures as it ages, and the dark brown bark of the red mulbrry easily flakes off in long plates.

Photo from Grandview Heights TreePlotter.

Mulberry trees have polymorphic leaves – on the same branch, there can be multiple shapes of leaf, but all are dark green with serrated edges.

Red mulberry leaf (top) and white mulberry leaf (bottom).

 

Photos from OPLIN's What Tree is It?