Red Mulberry

LEAVES: Alternate, simple, most often heart-shaped but sometimes lobed, 3″-5″ long, rough on the upper surface; margins toothed.

TWIGS: Stout, smooth, glossy, slightly zigzag, greenish-brown tinged with red; enlarged at the nodes. A milky juice is excreted from cuts.

FRUIT: An aggregate fruit, about 1″ long, composed of many small drupes, appears in July. First green, later red and finally dark-purple.

BARK: Dark grayish-brown, after 3 years roughed by longitudinal and diagonal splits and peeling in long, narrow flakes.

GENERAL: Typically found in rich, moist alluvial soils and lower slopes, attaining a height of 35′-50′ and 12″-18″ in diameter. The fruits are eaten by many birds, animals and people. The wood is durable in contact with the soil and has been used for fenceposts. An attractive ornamental, it should only be planted in large spaces because of its spreading growth form.