Associated Forest Cover
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Associated species include sycamore (Platanus occidentalis),
American elm (Ulmus americana), silver maple (Acer
saccharinum), and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) in
the southern parts of its range. Toward the north red mulberry is
associated with American elm, red maple (Acer rubrum), boxelder
(Acer negundo), and white ash (Fraxinus americana).
It is a secondary species in succession and is seldom
associated with primary invaders (2). Red mulberry is listed as a
minor component in three bottom-land cover types (3): Cottonwood
(Society of American Foresters Type 63), Sweetgum-Yellow-poplar
(Type 87), and Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash (Type 93).
Associated understory species are roughleaf dogwood (Cornus
drummondii), flowering dogwood (C. florida), swamp-privet
(Forestiera acuminata), Nuttall oak Quercus
nuttallii), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), and possumhaw
(Ilex decidua). Herbaceous vegetation associated with red
mulberry includes pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), stinging
nettle (Urtica dioica), poison-ivy (Toxicodendron
radicans), and greenbrier (Smilax spp.).
In the southern part of the range, red mulberry is often found in
pastures and along borders of fields.
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Climate
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Red mulberry grows under a variety of conditions. The frost-free
period ranges from 150 days in New England to 330 days in
southern Florida. Total annual precipitation ranges from 1000 to
2000 mm (40 to 80 in). Best growth is in moist coves and flood
plains in the southern half of its natural range. Mean annual
snowfall ranges from zero in Florida to 150 cm (60 in) in New
York.
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Damaging Agents
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Red mulberry seems to be vanishing from
at least a portion of its central range, possibly due to a
bacterial disease. The effects and extent of this disease have
not been investigated thoroughly, but it is known that red
mulberry trees are becoming increasingly scarce (2). The only
noteworthy leaf pathogens of red mulberry reported in the United
States are leaf spots caused by a species of Cercospora,
Mycosphaerella mori, and Pseudomonas mori (4). Red
mulberry also is susceptible to witches' broom, Microstroma
juglandis, but the cause is unknown.
A variety of insects feed on red mulberry leaves, including the
European fruit lecanium, Parthenolecanium corni; Comstock
mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki; and cottony maple
scale, Pulvinaria innumerabilis. The American plum borer,
Euzophera semifuneralis, and the mulberry borer, Doraschema
wildii, attack twigs and stems of red mulberry (5).
Red mulberry has been rated as moderately tolerant of flooding as
it usually withstands being inundated with up to a foot of water
for a single growing season. It normally succumbs, however, after
being flooded for two growing seasons (1).
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Flowering and Fruiting
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Red mulberry is dioecious but can
be monoecious, with male and female flowers on different branches
of the same plants. Both male and female flowers are stalked
axillary pendulous catkins and appear in April and May. The
blackberry-like fruit reaches full development from June to
August. Each fruit is composed of many small drupelets which
develop from separate female flowers ripening together (8).
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Genetics
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Red mulberry hybridizes frequently with white mulberry (Morus
alba), a native of China which has become naturalized
throughout parts of the Eastern United States.
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Growth and Yield
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Red mulberry is usually found as
scattered individuals near streams or in other moist places.
Stands of any size are not mentioned in the literature. Very
little is known about the growth and development of this species.
At maturity, red mulberry trees are an average of 5 to 21 in (15
to 70 ft) tall and as large as 76 in (30 in) in d.b.h., depending
upon habitat conditions. In wooded areas, red mulberry is often
an understory tree with a rounded, spreading crown.
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Reaction to Competition
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Red mulberry has been planted in
the Midwest because its fruits are a valuable food for wildlife,
but because it provides very little soil stability or cover for
wildlife, it has not been planted widely (8). It grows best in
open conditions (3) but is classed as tolerant of shade as it
often grows as an understory tree.
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Rooting Habit
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No information available.
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Seed Production and Dissemination
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Minimum seed-bearing
age is usually about 10 years, but 1-year-old trees planted in an
abandoned field in east Texas produced fruits at age 4 (3).
Optimum seedbearing age is 30 to 85 years; the maximum is 125
years. Good seed crops occur every 2 to 3 years (2). The average
number of red mulberry fruits per kilogram is about 8,600
(3,900/lb); the average number of cleaned seeds per kilogram is
795,000 (360,000/lb). One hundred kilograms (220 lb) of fresh
fruit yield 2 to 3 kg (4 to 7 lb) of cleaned seeds (8).
Fruits that mature fall to the ground near the seed tree. However,
because this relatively large, sweet fruit is a favorite food of
most birds and some small animals, most of the fruits are eaten
and dispersed by wildlife before they fully mature (6).
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Seedling Development
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Seeds can be extracted from fresh
fruits by mashing and soaking them in water, and then passing
them through a macerator, where pulp and empty seeds are skimmed
or floated off. Storage temperatures of -23° to -18° C
(-10° to 0° F) are recommended for dry mulberry seeds
(8).
Seeds can be sown in fall without stratification or in spring
following 30 to 90 days of stratification at 1° to 5° C
(33° to 41° F) in moist sand. In nursery practice,
seeds are sown in drills at the rate of 160 to 260/m (50 to
80/ft) in rows 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) apart. Germination, which
is epigeal, usually is from 12 to 50 percent. One-year
bare-rooted seedlings may be outplanted (8).
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Soils and Topography
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Red mulberry grows on a variety of moist soils at elevations below
600 m (2,000 ft). Soil orders on which red mulberry is found
include Alfisols, Inceptisols, Spodosols, and Ultisols. Seeds are
carried great distances by birds so trees may be found on any
soil that is not too dry. Best development is on well-drained,
moist soils of sheltered coves along streams (7).
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Special Uses
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The highest use of red mulberry is for its large, sweet fruits.
These are a favored food of most birds and a number of small
mammals including opossum, raccoon, fox squirrels, and gray
squirrels. The fruits also are used in jellies, jams, pies, and
drinks. In the past, the fruits were valued for fattening hogs
and as poultry food.
Red mulberry is used locally for fenceposts because the heartwood
is relatively durable. Other uses of the wood include farm
implements, cooperage, furniture, interior finish, and caskets
(7).
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Vegetative Reproduction
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Red mulberry can be propagated
from stem cuttings or by budding, but these methods are complex
and require greenhouse facilities. The average rooting from stem
cuttings taken in May, September, and January was only 7 percent,
regardless of time of year (2). Red mulberry is a prolific root
sprouter and can be reproduced by layering.
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Distribution
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Red mulberry extends from Massachusetts and southern Vermont west
through the southern half of New York to extreme southern
Ontario, southern Michigan, central Wisconsin and southeastern
Minnesota; south to Iowa, southeastern Nebraska, central Kansas,
western Oklahoma and central Texas; and east to southern Florida.
It is also found in Bermuda.
-The native range of red mulberry.
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Brief Summary
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Moraceae -- Mulberry family
Neil 1. Lamson
Red mulberry (Morus rubra), called moral in Spanish, is
widespread in Eastern United States. It is a rapid-growing tree
of valleys, flood plains, and low moist hillsides. This species
attains its largest size in the Ohio River Valley and reaches its
highest elevation (600 m or 2,000 ft) in the southern Appalachian
foothills. The wood is of little commercial importance. The
tree's value is derived from its abundant fruits, which are eaten
by people, birds, and small mammals.
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