Red Mulberry
Morus rubra
Edible blackberry-like fruit in early summer — sweet, juicy, beloved by birds. Wait for full ripeness: unripe fruit and the milky sap can upset the stomach. Threatened by hybridization with introduced white mulberry (*M. alba*). Distinguished by hairy leaf undersides and longer dull-tipped buds.
- Family
- Moraceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 35–50 ft
- Spacing
- 35–40 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April, May, June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- white, red, green, brown
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, butterflies, larval host
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV