Cudrania tricuspidata seed

LATIN NAME: Cudrania tricuspidata

COMMON NAME: Chinese Mulberry

The Chinese mulberry is the tree that the old farms kept for its leaves, its wood and its fruit. The tough, spreading, deciduous tree or large shrub carries the glossy, dark-green leaves and the small, greenish flowers, to be followed by the round, orange-red, raspberry-like fruits with the fine, sweet flavour, and the strong, yellowish wood is one of the fine hardwoods of the old countryside. The tree is a generous, long-lived presence of the farm, the hedge and the garden. It is a tree of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Chinese mulberry has a long, low-key record in the plant science, studied for the orange-red, raspberry-like fruits and the strong, yellowish wood. The way the tree grows on the poor, dry ground has been studied at length, and it keeps showing up in the work on the fruit trees, the hedging plants and the members of the mulberry family. The glossy, dark-green leaves and the tough, spreading habit have also made it a fine garden tree, and the Chinese mulberry is a regular subject of the studies of the old farm trees of the East.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The Chinese mulberry is a tough, generous tree of the old farm and the modern garden. The round, orange-red fruits are eaten fresh or made into the jams and the wines of the countryside, and the strong, yellowish wood is cut for the tools, the furniture and the fine joinery. The tree is also a fine, thorny hedge of the old farm, keeping the stock in and the trespassers out, and the leaves feed the silkworms of the old silk villages. It has been written up in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the sweet fruits, the hard wood and the old farm ways, and it is a fine, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.

The Chinese mulberry is one of the old farm trees of the East, and the round, orange-red fruits are eaten fresh or made into the jams and the wines. The strong, yellowish wood is cut for the tools and the joinery, and the leaves feed the silkworms of the old silk villages.

To grow the Chinese mulberry from seed, sow the fresh seeds at once in trays of moist, free-draining soil, covering them thinly, keep the trays in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings push through within a few weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the orange-red fruits will come in a few seasons.

Also known as the mandarin melon berry, this slow growing deciduous tree reaches a height of 6 m at maturity. This extremely hardy mulberry variety produces sweet, succulent firm fruit, similar in taste to the white mulberry mixed with mandarin, and melon; and can be quite delicious.