Morus alba Seeds | White Mulberry
LATIN NAME: Morus alba
COMMON NAME: White Mulberry
Plant Profile
Morus alba is the mulberry of the silk industry, and the fruit is almost a by-product. The tree grows fast to fifteen metres with a broad, open crown and a grey-brown bark that becomes furrowed with age. The leaves are variable, sometimes lobed and sometimes not on the same tree, and they are the food of the silkworm, which is the reason the species was carried across Asia and then to Europe.
The species is native to the mountains of central and eastern China and has been cultivated for at least four thousand years. It is now naturalised in towns and in disturbed ground across the temperate world, and in North America it hybridises with the native red mulberry, which is a conservation problem for the native species.
Science & Biotechnology
The white mulberry is the preferred food of Bombyx mori because its leaves are low in the compounds that make other mulberries unpalatable, and because it leafs out early and regrows after cutting. Silk production depends on a continuous supply of young leaves, which is why the tree is coppiced and why the fruit was selected against in silk districts: a tree that spends energy on fruit has fewer leaves.
The fruit contains anthocyanins and is rich in vitamin C, and the leaf contains a compound, 1-deoxynojirimycin, that inhibits alpha-glucosidase and has been studied for blood sugar control. The leaf is also the basis of a tea sold for diabetes, and the root bark, called sang bai pi, is used in Chinese medicine for coughs and for asthma.
Uses & Benefits
The fruit is eaten fresh, dried and made into jam, and the leaf is fed to silkworms and to livestock. The timber is used for furniture, for barrels and for sports equipment, and the bark is used for paper and for rope.
In Chinese medicine the leaf, the fruit, the root bark and the twig are all used, for different purposes: the leaf for fever and for the eyes, the fruit as a tonic, the root bark for cough, and the twig for rheumatism. The tree is also planted for shade, for windbreaks and for reclamation, and it is used in agroforestry.
Growing from Seed
Seed germinates readily. Sow in spring at 18 to 20 degrees, and seedlings appear in two to three weeks. Named forms are propagated by cuttings or by grafting, since seed does not come true and the fruit quality varies.
The tree grows on almost any soil and tolerates drought, pollution and pruning. It is hardy to about minus thirty. It is a weed in many cities, and it should not be planted where the fruit will stain paving or cars. Prune it in winter if a compact crown is wanted, and be aware that the fruit drops over several weeks.
Our Take
The silkworm’s tree, with edible fruit as a bonus, and a species that has become a weed wherever it was planted and then abandoned.
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