Family: Moraceae, Mulberry view all from this family

Description Medium-sized tree with short trunk, broad rounded crown, and milky sap.
Height: 60' (18 m).
Diameter: 2' (0.6 m).
Leaves: in 2 rows; 4-7" (10-18 cm) long, 2 1/2-5" (6-13 cm) wide. Ovate; abruptly long-pointed; with 3 main veins from often unequal base, coarsely saw-toothed; often with 2 or 3 lobes on young twigs. Dull dark green and rough above, with soft hairs beneath; turning yellow in autumn.
Bark: brown; fissured into scaly plates.
Twigs: brown, slender.
Flowers: tiny, about 1/8" (3 mm) long; crowded in narrow clusters; male and female on same or separate trees; in spring when leaves appear.
Fruit: 1-1 1/4" (2.5-3 cm) long; a cylindrical mulberry; red to dark purple; composed of many tiny beadlike 1-seeded fruits, sweet and juicy, edible; in late spring.The wood is used locally for fenceposts, furniture, interior finish, and agricultural implements. People, domestic animals, and wildlife (especially songbirds) eat the berries. Choctaw Indians wove cloaks from the fibrous inner bark of young mulberry shoots.

Habitat Moist soils in hardwood forests.

Range S. Ontario east to Massachusetts, south to S. Florida, west to central Texas and north to SE. Minnesota; to 2000' (610 m).

Discussion The wood is used locally for fenceposts, furniture, interior finish, and agricultural implements. People, domestic animals, and wildlife (especially songbirds) eat the berries. Choctaw Indians wove cloaks from the fibrous inner bark of young mulberry shoots.