white mulberry Moraceae Morus alba L. symbol: MOAL Leaf: Alternate, simple, roughly orbicular in shape, 3 to 6 inches long with a serrate margin, often irregularly lobed, smooth above. Flower: Species is usually dioecious; small, green catkins, male flowers narrow, 1 to 2 inches long; female flowers plump, 1 inch long. Fruit: Resembling blackberries, cylindrical, 1 to 1 1/4 inch long, fleshy multiple of drupes, pale pink to dark red, not as juicy as red mulberry, maturing in late summer. Twig: Slender, zigzag, gray to orange-brown, smooth, buds reddish brown with numerous scales, scales often lack dark edges, leaf scar sunken oval, broken twigs display silvery white filaments. Bark: Orange-brown with lenticels when young, becoming gray with long narrow irregular ridges. Form: A small tree up to 40 feet tall, branches low and develops a wide spreading crown Looks like: red mulberry - paper mulberry - osage-orange - Texas mulberry Additional Range Information: Morus alba is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and may seed into the landscape. See states reporting white mulberry. More: Fall Color External Links: USDA Plants Database Horticulture © Copyright 2016, Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, all rights reserved. Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson