Morus alba seed
LATIN NAME: Morus alba
COMMON NAME: White Mulberry
The white mulberry is the tree that fed the silk industry of the old world. The small, fast-growing, deciduous tree carries the broad, heart-shaped, glossy leaves, and the small, greenish flower catkins open through the spring, to be followed by the fine, sweet, white and pink-tinged berry-like fruits. The leaves are the fine, steady food of the silkworms that gave the world its silk, and the tree has a very long record of use at the centre of the old silk trade. It is a fine, easy, generous addition to the sunny garden and the orchard. It is a tree of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The white mulberry has carved a quiet but solid place in the plant science, and the tree has been studied for the broad, heart-shaped leaves and their very long record as the food of the silkworm. The way the tree fed the old silk trade of the world has been studied at length, and it keeps showing up in the work on the sericulture and the mulberry crops. The fine, sweet, berry-like fruits and the fast, easy habit have also made it a fine garden tree, and it is a regular subject of the studies of the fruit trees of the temperate and the warm regions.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The white mulberry does a lot of work in the garden and the wider world. The broad, heart-shaped leaves fed the silkworms of the old silk trade for thousands of years, and the tree still holds a fine, steady place in the sericulture of the world. The fine, sweet, berry-like fruits are a fine, generous crop for the table, the jam and the birds, and the fast, easy tree is a dependable addition to the sunny garden and the orchard. It has been written up in the agricultural and the horticultural papers for the silk trade and the sweet fruits, and it is a fine, easy, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.
The white mulberry is one of the great trees of the old silk trade, and the broad, heart-shaped, glossy leaves fed the silkworms that gave the world its silk for thousands of years. The small, greenish flower catkins of the spring are followed by the fine, sweet, white and pink-tinged berry-like fruits that the birds and the children both love.
To grow the white mulberry from seed, sow the fresh seeds over the surface of trays of moist, free-draining soil and press them in lightly, keep them in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings are up within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the broad, heart-shaped leaves and the sweet, berry-like fruits will be there in a few seasons.
Plant Type: Medium Trees
Leaf Type: Deciduous
Flowering: Late Spring (will not be effected by frost)
Years to Begin Bearing: 5-15 years (can be as little as 2 years for some varieties, but will need a few more years to get to maximum production)
Years of Useful Life: 150 years
Size: 30-60 feet (9-18 meters) tall and wide
Roots: taproot or heart-shaped root pattern (a number of main roots all spreading out and down)
Growth Rate: Fast
GROWING CONDITIONS FOR THIS PLANT
Light: Prefers full sun
Shade: Tolerates light shade (about 50%)
Moisture: Medium, however some species/varieties can handle drier soils
pH: most species prefer fairly neutral soil (6.1 – 7.0); M. rubra can handle more alkaline soils (to 8.5)
Description
White mulberry, is a short-lived, fast-growing, small to medium sized mulberry tree, which grows to 10–20 m tall. The species is native to northern China, and is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.It is known as shahatut in Hindi,Tuta in Sanskrit, Tuti in Marathi, Dut in Turkish and Toot in Persian in Azerbaijani and in Armenian.
Something interesting….
The white mulberry is widely cultivated to feed the silkworms employed in the commercial production of silk. It is also notable for the rapid release of its pollen, which is launched at over half the speed of sound. White mulberry leaves are the preferred feedstock for silkworms, and are also cut for food for livestock (cattle, goats, etc.) in areas where dry seasons restrict the availability of ground vegetation. The fruit ar
e also eaten, often dried or made into wine.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit is used to treat prematurely grey hair, to “tonify” the blood, and treat constipation and diabetes.[citation needed] The bark is used to treat cough, wheezing, edema, and to promote urination. It is also used to treat fever, headache, red dry and sore eyes.