Leaves: alternate, simple, in two rows; 2 1/2-7" (6-18 cm) long, 2-5" (5-13 cm) wide, broadly ovate but variable in shape; with 3 main veins from rounded or notched base; coarsely toothed; often divided into 3 or 5 lobes; long-stalked, shiny green above, paler and slightly hairy beneath
Flower: tiny; greenish; crowded in short clusters; male and female on same or separate trees in spring.
Fruit: 3/8-3/4" (10-19 mm) long; a cylindrical mulberry; purplish, pinkish, or white; composed of many tiny beadlike 1-seeded fruits, sweet and juicy, edible; in late spring.
Twig: light brown; slender.
Bark: light brown; smoothish, becoming furrowed into scaly ridges.
Form: small tree with rounded crown of spreading branches.
Habitat: hardy in cities, drought-resistant, and adapted to dry, warm areas.
Range: native of China. Widely cultivated across the United States; naturalized in the East and in the Pacific states.
Location: northern part of the Bunker Hill High School campus.
Latitude - 39o02.48N
Longitude - 089o57.69W
White mulberry leaves is the main food for silkworms. It grows rapidly and produces abundant berries. It becomes like a weed in cities where the berries litter the street.
© Community Unit School District #8, Bunker Hill
504 E. Warren, Bunker Hill, IL 62014
References:
Little, Elbert L. Field Guide to Tree: Eastern Region. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1980.
Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. Springfield, IL: 1992