they are dark green and sandpapery on
Red Mulberry their topsides. The veins are hairy on
their undersides.
- Newt Wood
Twigs are slender, smooth and stout, slightly
Red Mulberry (Morus rubra L.). A Hardwood zigzag and change from greenish-brown to brown
MORACEAE. Mulberry Family as they mature. Leaves and twigs excrete a
milky sap from breaks or dings. Bark is dark
The mulberry species are a small group of gray-brown, irregularly divided into elon-
about 10 trees included in the large Moraceae gated plates which separate into thick scales,
Family - numbering approximately 1000 lightly edged in red.
tree, shrub and a few herb species. The tree
and shrub species share milky sap as a The tiny white male and female flowers of the red mulberry
common characteristic. develop on crowded, narrow, stalked catkins about the time the
leaves unfold. Male and female flowers may appear separately
Two of the mulberries are native to the U.S. on different branches of the same tree or on different trees.
and two more are naturalized. Several others Occasionally flowers of both sexes will occur on the same
are native to Mexico and just into South America. About five catkin.
more are native to Asia and Africa.
The blackberry-like fruits, an inch or so long, are made up of
Although the naturalized white mulberry (Morus alba) is many bead-like single-seeded fruits. (Similar to the blackberry,
probably better known because of its use as the food of silk- the flower producing each bead must be pollinated.) The fruit
worms, the red mulberry (M. rubra) is the most common of the turn from green to red to glossy deep purple as they ripen in
mulberries in North America. mid-summer.
Red mulberry ranges an area from spotty appearances in New The wood of red mulberry is moderately-hard, strong and heavy.
York and Massachusetts westward just across southern Ontario to Average specific gravity is 0.61 ovendry; weight is 36 to 45
Minnesota and south from most of Florida to central Texas. pounds per cubic foot at 12 percent moisture content, similar to
white ash. Shrinkage is about 14 percent of volume in drying
Red mulberry, also called moral, bulberry, Virginia mulberry or, from green to ovendry.
incorrectly, black mulberry or silkworm mulberry, is a deciduous
tree of little commercial value. It is usually planted for its fruit. The narrow sapwood is whitish to pale yellow; heartwood is
This tree attains its largest size in the Ohio River Valley but does pale yellow-orange turning to golden brown on exposure to air
well under a variety of conditions, usually in moist well-drained and light. The grain is straight with little or no figure; texture is
soils. It grows best in open conditions but it is tolerant of shade coarse. When dry the wood has no taste or odor.
and is often found as an understory tree.
Red mulberry wood is ring-porous. Pores in the earlywood are
At maturity, a red mulberry is typically 20 to 70 feet tall, 12 to 30 moderately large and plainly visible to the naked eye. Early-
inches in diameter. They are usually found as scattered indi- wood may be two to eight pores wide. Tyloses are plentiful and
vidual or solitary trees, rarely in a stand of any size. A champion pores are occasionally filled with white deposits. Growth rings
tree, recorded a few years ago in Oklahoma, was 63 feet with a are conspicuous. The transition from earlywood to latewood is
diameter of six feet eleven inches. New York’s big tree is a 57 abrupt with the smaller latewood pores grouped in nests that
footer, five feet two inches in diameter, growing in East Hampton tend toward wavy, discontinuous bands in the outer latewood.
on Long Island.
Rays are also clearly visible to the naked eye, producing a
The stem of a red mulberry is distinctive and attractive ray fleck on radial or quartersawn
usually short to the first stout surfaces. Rays may be one to eight cells wide but are mostly
branches. The tree develops a five to seven. The highly visible rays of red mulberry are
broad, dense, round crown. helpful in sorting fresh-cut wood from black locust, a look-
Leaf shape tends to be quite alike.
variable and can be confusing.
Leaves may be rounded to ovate or This wood dries with some tendency to warp and check. End
egg-shaped, on petioles up to three inches long. Leaves are three sealing and a little extra care in stacking are helpful. Boards are
to five inches long, two to four inches wide with saw-toothed quite stable after drying.
edges, contracted at their ends to a long point. Leaves may have
uneven bases, two or three lobes or a notch on either side, giving The wood works well with hand or power tools. Fasteners hold
them a mitten-like shape. All of these leaf shapes may occur on well but may cause splitting - pre-drilling is recommended.
the same tree. The leaves have three to five conspicuous veins; Edges are sharp and clean but even a light pass on the planer
Page 7
Wood of the Month, continued Because this tree is not a commercially important species, the
problem is not yet getting much attention.
may be unsettling as you watch the darker surface wood re-
moved. New surfaces return to that golden brown color in a Although becoming increasingly scarce, at current useage levels
couple of weeks. As with cherry, a little sunshine hurries the the supply is adequate. Wood may be found at the small local
process along. sawmill in areas where it is plentiful but rarely with a commer-
cial supplier. When available, it is priced with the less important
The wood glues easily, polishes beautifully to a high luster and hardwoods, currently in the dollar- to a dollar-and-a-half a board
takes finishes very well. This is an extremely durable wood, foot range.
resistant to insects as well as rot and does very well when
exposed to soil and weather.
-
There are no reported health hazards from working with red
mulberry but the usual dust precautions are advised.
Red mulberry is often considered a trash tree because of the
masses of falling fruit and attendant bird droppings. It is,
however, frequently planted as an ornamental and needs lots of
space to grow. It also serves as a decoy for berry growers
because birds prefer mulberries to raspberries, blackberries and
blueberries, ripening at the same time.
The fruit is also popular with small mammals, people and
domestic animals. In the past it was used to feed chickens and
fatten hogs. Mulberries have a blackberry-like flavor and
produce excellent jam, jelly, pies, juice and a flavorful wine.
In addition to providing food and timber, red mulberry leaves
were tried as a North American source for food for silkworms.
For reasons of their own, silkworms prefer the leaves of the
white mulberry, common in Asia, and the experiment failed.
Root sprouts, prolific after a tree is cut, were pounded to yield a
tough strong fiber that was woven into cloth by Native Ameri-
cans. Early Spanish explorers used the same fiber to make
replacement rope for their ships. The wood was also used as a
source of a yellow-orange dye.
Mulberry juice has been used to reduce fever and as a mild
laxative. It was also used to make cough syrup. Outer bark was
ground to treat intestinal worms; scraped and boiled inner bark
tea served as a children’s laxative and the milky sap was used to
treat ringworm.
Although red mulberry is usually left to that “little
known and seldom used” category, it is a nice
wood to use and admire. It is sometimes used
for furniture, interior trim and cabinetwork.
Its durability makes it desirable for coffins
and caskets, fence posts, boat-building and
agricultural implements. It has also been used
for wet cooperage. From those less well-
informed, it has earned a place in the
firewood pile.
Red mulberry is reported to be disappearing
from portions of its range. Cause is still
uncertain but a bacteria disease is suspected.
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