Request access

Mulberry

Morus spp.

Mulberries are fast, tough trees that bear blackberry-like fruit in spring, often in huge amounts. In Florida many cultivars fruit within a year or two of planting, and some bear in flushes for months. The fruit is too soft to ship, so a backyard tree is the main way to taste good ones.

Tree facts

Scientific name
Morus spp.
Origin
Asia (white and black mulberry); eastern North America (red mulberry)
Tree size
30–50 ft if unpruned; can be kept at 6–15 ft with hard pruning; dwarf types 6–10 ft
Growth rate
Fast
Sun
Full sun
Soil
Almost any soil that isn't waterlogged. Drought-tolerant once established.
Soil pH
5.5–7.5
Pollination
Fruiting cultivars set fruit without a pollinizer; one tree is enough
Cold hardiness
White and red mulberries take well below 0°F; black mulberry (Persian) types are less hardy
USDA zones
5–10 (black mulberry 7–10)
Years to first fruit
1–3
Season
Mar–Jun
Water
About every 10 days once established, without rain; more in heat, in pots and while young
Feeding
About every 90 days, Mar–Jun
Pruning
Jan–Feb
Taste
Sweet to sweet-tart, like a mild blackberry; the best black mulberries are rich and winey
Nutrition
Vitamin C, iron, and anthocyanins in dark fruit

Is mulberry safe to eat? Edible and toxic parts

What you can eat

  • Ripe berries, raw or cooked
  • Dried berries
  • Leaves, dried for tea

Toxic parts and cautions

  • Take care: Unripe berries and the milky sap in the leaves and stems can cause nausea, cramps and diarrhea, and the sap can irritate skin. Eat only fully ripe fruit.
  • Good to know: Male white mulberry trees shed heavy, highly allergenic pollen. Fruiting cultivars sold for gardens are generally female or set fruit on their own.
  • Good to know: Ripe berries stain skin, clothes, cars and patios, and birds spread purple droppings. Don't plant over a driveway or deck.

Pets: Ripe berries are fine for dogs in small amounts. Unripe berries, leaves and sap can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

How to eat and enjoy mulberry

  • Fresh off the tree
  • Pies, cobblers and crumbles
  • Jam and syrup
  • Dried mulberries, common in the Middle East and Central Asia
  • Smoothies and sorbet
  • Mulberry wine

When it's ripe

Ripe when fully colored (deep purple-black for black types) and soft enough to drop at a touch. Spread a sheet under the branch and shake: ripe fruit falls, unripe fruit stays.

Storing it

Very perishable. Refrigerate unwashed and use within 2–3 days, or freeze on a tray.

Mulberry varieties (7)

  • Black Beauty

    A naturally compact black mulberry (Morus nigra) with rich, sweet-tart fruit.

    Taste: Rich, sweet-tart · Size: Medium

  • Dwarf Everbearing

    A compact, shrubby mulberry common in Florida nurseries that bears black berries young and in repeated flushes.

    Taste: Sweet-tart · Size: Small to medium

    Fruits in pots. In warm climates it can bear much of the year, especially when tipped back after each crop.

  • Gerardi Dwarf

    A naturally dwarf mulberry with sweet black fruit that bears young, suited to pots and small yards.

    Origin: Illinois · Taste: Sweet, rich · Size: Medium

  • Illinois Everbearing

    A hardy white × red mulberry hybrid with long, black, sweet fruit that ripens over many weeks.

    Origin: Illinois, 1958 · Taste: Sweet, mild · Size: Medium to long

    One of the hardiest fruiting mulberries, into zone 5.

  • Pakistan

    Known for extraordinarily long fruit, 2–3 inches or more, red to dark purple with sweet, firm flesh.

    Origin: Pakistan · Taste: Sweet, mild · Season: Mar–May · Size: Very long, 2–3.5 in

    Low chill; one of the best mulberries for Florida and the Gulf South. Not very cold-hardy.

  • Persian · also Black Persian, Persian Black

    The true black mulberry (Morus nigra), with large, juicy, intensely flavored fruit that many consider the best of all mulberries.

    Origin: Western Asia (Iran) · Taste: Rich, sweet-tart, winey · Size: Large

    Slow-growing. Does best in mild, dry climates and often struggles in humid Florida.

  • Shangri-La · also Shangri La

    A vigorous, low-chill mulberry with large black berries, popular in Florida and Texas.

    Taste: Sweet · Season: Mar–May · Size: Large

    Bears heavily in spring.

Pests and diseases to watch for

  • Scale insects

    Small bumps, waxy or shell-like, on stems and leaf veins; sticky honeydew and black sooty mold below.

    What to do: Scrub small colonies off with a soft brush.

  • Mealybugs

    White cottony clusters in leaf joints, under leaves and on fruit stems; honeydew and sooty mold.

    What to do: Blast off with a strong spray of water.

  • Aphids

    Clusters of tiny soft insects on new shoots; leaves curl and get sticky.

    What to do: Spray off with water.

  • Sooty mold

    Black, papery film on leaves and fruit that wipes off; it grows on honeydew.

    What to do: Control the insects making honeydew; the mold then weathers away.

  • Spider mites

    Fine pale speckling on leaves, dusty undersides and fine webbing; leaves bronze and drop.

    What to do: Hose the undersides of leaves.

Growing mulberries? Let Gardyn keep track.

Gardyn tells you when your mulberry needs water based on your local weather, reminds you to feed and prune in season, and keeps every harvest and photo.

Request access

General guidance, not medical or veterinary advice. Poison Control (US): 1-800-222-1222. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435.