Morus alba White Mulberry seeds

Native Range: China
Zone: 4 to 8

Best grown in rich, moist, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Best in full sun. Prune in late fall or winter to avoid bleeding. Tolerates heat, drought and a somewhat wide range of soils, including alkaline ones. Shallow rooted.

Morus alba, commonly called white mulberry is native to China. It is a rounded, fast-growing, deciduous tree that typically grows to 30-50’ tall and as wide. It usually develops a wide-spreading crown with age. The leaves of this tree have been used in China since at least 2600 B.C. as the primary diet for silkworms used to make silk. Trees were introduced into North America in colonial times in an effort to establish a silk industry. Although the industry never took hold, the trees did take hold and have over time escaped cultivation and naturalized in fields, waste areas, forest margins and along roads throughout much of the U.S. This tree has also been planted in various areas for erosion control and windbreaks. White mulberry is usually dioecious (separate male and female trees), but sometimes is monoecious. Small yellowish-green flowers in drooping catkins bloom in spring (March-April). Fertilized flowers on female trees are followed by sweet, edible blackberry-like fruits (cylindrical drupes to 1” long) that mature in June. Fruits ripen to white or pink, but sometimes to darker reds or purple-blacks. Fruits are loved by birds. Glossy, rounded, usually 2-3 lobed (but sometimes unlobed), dark green leaves (to 8” long) have serrate margins and uneven (sometimes cordate) bases. Glossy leaf surfaces distinguish this tree from red mulberry. Fall color is an unattractive yellow (sometimes green, yellow and brown).

Growing Info:
Scarification: Soak in water, let stand in water for 24 hours, repeat process daily for 4 days.
Stratification: cold stratify for 90 days.
Germination: surface sow and keep moist, tamp the soil, keep moist, mulch the seed bed, can be sown outdoors in the fall for spring germination.