Morus alba Seeds | White Mulberry
LATIN NAME: Morus alba
COMMON NAME: White Mulberry
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as White Mulberry, Morus alba is a tree. White mulberry is tree that fed silk industry of old world. Leaves are fine, steady food of silkworms that gave world its silk, and tree has a very long record of use at centre of old silk trade. It is a fine, easy, generous addition to sunny garden and the orchard. Its appeal to pollinating insects adds a second, ecological layer to its ornamental one. Add these qualities together and you have a species well worth a place in the garden.
Science & Biotechnology
The white mulberry carries a quiet pharmacological distinction: its leaves and root bark contain 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), an iminosugar that inhibits alpha-glucosidase — the same enzyme targeted by the diabetes drug acarbose — which has driven clinical interest in mulberry leaf preparations for moderating post-meal blood glucose. Small human trials report blunted glucose spikes after carbohydrate meals. The leaves are also the obligatory food of the silkworm, and the fruit is a neglected pleasure fresh from the tree. As with all glucose-lowering agents, people on diabetes medication should use medicinal doses cautiously.
Like other members of the Morus group, Morus alba draws steady attention from botanists and plant breeders, who value the genus both as a subject of research and as a source of garden-worthy material. White mulberry has carved a quiet but solid place in plant science, and tree has been studied for broad, heart-shaped leaves and their very long record as food of the silkworm. Modern propagation practice has made this species straightforward to raise by ordinary good methods.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value White Mulberry for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. White mulberry does a lot of work in garden and wider world. Broad, heart-shaped leaves fed silkworms of old silk trade for thousands of years, and tree still holds a fine, steady place in sericulture of the world. It has been written up in agricultural and horticultural papers for silk trade and sweet fruits, and it is a fine, easy, long-lived tree of open, sunny, well-drained garden. Mature plants need little attention in a well-chosen position.
Mulberry is a four-way medicinal tree: the fruits are an iron-rich tonic food, the leaves brew a tea studied for slowing starch absorption via DNJ, the root bark, Sang Bai Pi, is a classical cough herb, and the twigs, Sang Zhi, soothe joints in Chinese medicine.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of White Mulberry under ordinary good conditions. Sow thinly on the surface of a loose, well-drained seed compost, cover lightly, water in gently and keep the tray in a sunny spot with even moisture. Grow the youngsters on steadily in pots until well rooted, then move them to their final positions.
Our Take
Once established, White Mulberry largely looks after itself. It tolerates the sort of small mistakes every beginner makes.
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