Northern Queensland Permaculture

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Mulberry Tree

Botanical information

Botanical information
Order Rosales
Family Moraceae
Genus Moreae
Common name Mulberry Tree
Species Morus

Maturity days

Planting months

Planting months
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Permaculture uses

Permaculture uses
Usage 1 Usage 2 Usage 3
Food Forest Fruit

Growing condition comments

Growing Condition Comment
Drought Tolerant No
Humidity tolerant No
Planting area
Sunlight

Photos

Photos

Short comments

Grows in Townsville, mildly susceptable to fruit fly.

General comments

Mulberries are fast-growing when young, and can grow to 24 metres (80 ft) tall.[2][4] The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and often lobed and serrated on the margin. Lobes are more common on juvenile shoots than on mature trees.[2][4] The trees can be monoecious or dioecious.[4] The mulberry fruit is a multiple, about 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1 1⁄4 in) long.[2][4] Immature fruits are white, green, or pale yellow.[4] The fruit turns from pink to red while ripening, then dark purple or black, and has a sweet flavor when fully ripe. Mulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised, as seedling-grown trees are generally of better shape and health, but they are most often planted from large cuttings, which root readily. The mulberry plants allowed to grow tall have a crown height of 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 ft) from ground level and a stem girth of 10–13 cm (4–5 in). They are specially raised with the help of well-grown saplings 8–10 months old of any of the varieties recommended for rainfed areas like S-13 (for red loamy soil) or S-34 (black cotton soil), which are tolerant to drought or soil-moisture stress conditions. Usually, the plantation is raised and in block formation with a spacing of 1.8 by 1.8 m (6 by 6 ft), or 2.4 by 2.4 m (8 by 8 ft), as plant-to-plant and row-to-row distances. The plants are usually pruned once a year during the monsoon season to a height of 1.5–1.8 m (5–6 ft) and allowed to grow with a maximum of 8–10 shoots at the crown. Some North American cities have banned the planting of mulberries because of the large amounts of pollen they produce, posing a potential health hazard for some pollen allergy sufferers.[8] Actually, only the male mulberry trees produce pollen; this lightweight pollen can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, sometimes triggering asthma.

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