Red Mulberry

Morus rubra

native


Red Mulberry is a native deciduous tree found in most of Virginia. Many species of birds eat the fruits, including waxwings, thrushes, tanagers, flycatchers, woodpeckers, crows, jays, cuckoos, titmice, and others. The fruits are eaten by squirrels, raccoons, and other mammals. The leaves are eaten by many insects, including lace bugs and mealybugs, and numerous species of beetles bore through the wood. Red Mulberry is shade-tolerant and can grow to heights of 30 to 60 feet. The first English colonists to explore Virginia in 1607 mentioned the abundance of both mulberry trees and their fruit. Red Mulberry is now not common in urban and suburban areas and is susceptible to hybridization from the invasive White Mulberry. By coincidence, the genus name Morus is also the genus for seabirds called gannets, who are in the same family as boobies. The mulberry genus is based on the Latin name of the tree, while the gannet genus is from the Greek word moros, which means foolish, because birds on their breeding ground lacked fear and were easy for humans to kill.

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Ranges

North America Virginia


Red Mulberry leaves
Mulberry leaves of this species (and others) are quite variable. This image shows both lobed and unlobed leaves.

Red Mulberry leaves
Red Mulberry leaves with hand to give indication of size

Red Mulberry leaves
Red Mulberry leaves

Red Mulberry tree
Red Mulberry tree

Red Mulberry flowers
Red Mulberry flowers

A single Red Mulberry fruit
A single Red Mulberry fruit

Red Mulberry bark
The bark of the Red Mulberry is fairly smooth.

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