Red Mulberry immature fruit

Description:

The immature berries are white and should not be eaten. Ripe berries can vary in color from white to dark purple. You can tell they are ripe when they come off the tree with just a slight tug. Mulberry fruit is usually ready just after blackberries ripen leading to a supply of lots of berries.

Habitat:

Growing on fence line in wildlife habitat yard.

Notes:

The leaves are highly variable, ranging from unlobed to five lobes and drop off in the fall, not reappearing until spring. The bark of mulberry trees is smooth and gray. The wood is strong and makes good tool handles. Come spring, the young leaves can be collected and added to a salad. The inner bark (cambium layer) can be pounded into into fines then boiled into a rough porridge.