White mulberry

White mulberry (Morus alba) – a species of deciduous trees of the genus Morus (Morus) in the family Moraceae (Moraceae). Its native range is considered to be the eastern regions of China, where it has been cultivated for more than 4,000 years as food for the silkworm. From China the tree spread to Central Asia, northern India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and later to the Transcaucasus. It appeared in Georgia in the 6th century, in Europe in the 12th century, and in America in the 16th century. Now white mulberry is distributed from India, Afghanistan and Iran to Portugal and Spain.

It is a fast-growing tree 15–18 (20) m tall with a spherical, spreading crown. Young trees have a rounded, fairly dense crown. It lives 150 (200–300) years. Bark is thick, gray, fissured. Young shoots are brownish or gray-green, pubescent at the tips.

Leaves are herbaceous, soft, ovate, pointed at the tip, 5–15 cm long. Leaves on the same tree can vary greatly – they may be entire or 3–5-lobed. Base is cordate, asymmetric, with a serrated margin. Petiole glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves grow on two types of shoots – shortened fruiting shoots and elongated vegetative shoots. In summer leaves are dark green, turning straw-yellow in autumn.

The plant is dioecious, wind-pollinated. It flowers in April–May. Flowers are collected in inflorescences – staminate flowers in cylindrical pendulous catkins, pistillate flowers in short oval catkins on very short peduncles. The axis of the inflorescence expands at fruiting, forming multiple fruits composed of a large number of nutlets. These nutlets are enclosed in fleshy, succulent enlarged perianths.

Begins to bear fruit in the 5th year after planting. Productivity is high; at 10 years it can yield more than 100 kg of fruit.

Multiple fruits (aggregate drupes) are cylindrical, up to 4 cm long, white, pink or red (cultivars with black fruits have also been developed). Taste is cloyingly sweet, less intense than blackcurrant. Seeds are very small; 1000 seeds weigh 1–2.5 g.

Varieties: more than 400 cultivars of white mulberry have been developed: белая медовая, смуглянка, черная баронесса, Белоснежка, Чернобровая, Машенька, Дина, кормовая – украинская (5,6,7), Мерефенская, Слобожанская 1. Ornamental cultivars – Aurea, Laciniata, Globosa, Pendula, Pyramidalis.

Hardiness zone: zone 4b (can withstand short-term frosts to -30–-32 °C). Branches may slightly freeze in cold winters but recover quickly.

Location: most representatives are drought-tolerant, undemanding to soil, salt-tolerant, but do not tolerate waterlogging.

Planting: Best planting time: spring – April, autumn – September to early October. Optimal spacing between plants – 5–6 m. Planting hole size: 80x80x60 cm. Soil mixture consists of topsoil, 2–3 buckets of humus or compost, 40–50 g potassium salt, 60–80 g superphosphate or 150 g of a complete fertilizer.

Care: At bud break, you can apply nitroammophoska fertilizer at 30–50 g per 1 sq. m. If necessary, the feeding can be repeated in early June. You can also feed with fermented manure slurry diluted 5–6 times with water or poultry manure diluted 10–12 times. No feeding is done at the end of summer to stop shoot growth and prepare them for winter.

Pruning: Fruiting forms are best grown in a bush form, limiting growth to 3 m. Annual crown thinning is also necessary; all diseased, broken, weak and crossing branches are cut out. Tolerates regular clipping well. Recommended crown shapes are spherical or broom-shaped.

Diseases: bacteriosis, powdery mildew, cylindrosporiosis, small-leaf curl, root rot.

Pests: scale insects, chafers, mole cricket, mulberry moth, mulberry longhorn beetle, wireworm, spider mite.

Propagation: For fruiting forms, both seed and vegetative propagation can be used. In the first method, seeds are stratified for 2 months to improve germination. They can also be soaked for 3 days before planting. Sowing is done in early spring. Ornamental forms are propagated only by bud grafting (budding), cuttings and layering.

Uses: Leaves are used as feed for silkworms, cattle and goats. Wood is used for making household and decorative items. Bast is used for making ropes, cords, paper and cardboard. A yellow dye is obtained from wood and leaves. Root bark and leaves are used in medicine. In landscape design it is used in solitary and group plantings, and for hedges. Fruits are consumed fresh, dried, or fermented into wine.