General: Mulberry family (Moreaceae). White mulberry is an introduced, small to medium sized shrub or tree. The leaves are alternate, simple, serrate or dentate, ovate to broad ovate, and two to seven inches long (Dirr 1990). The flowers are small, greenish, crowded in clusters, and hanging in catkins. The fruit is blackberry like, typically white but sometimes pinkish violet, insipid and so plentiful it litters lawns and pavements (Taylor 1965). The bark is light brown to gray and smooth, becoming divided into narrow scaly ridges.

Distribution: Morus alba is a Chinese tree, cultivated throughout the world wherever silkworms are raised. It is occasionally cultivated in Japan, Europe, North America, and Africa. In Michigan, white mulberry is frequent in urban environments in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, occasionally in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula (Barnes & Wagner 1981). This species is naturalized in the urban environment and rare in disturbed forest communities (Ibid.). For current distribution, please consult the Plant profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.