Foraging Mulberries, and a Recipe for Mulberry Chutney

Reader Contribution by Leda Meredith
1 / 2
2 / 2

Mulberries are one of the first wild fruits to ripen in late spring and early summer. Frequently cursed by property owners who detest how these fruits of the Morus genus stain their pavement, mulberries are delicious fruit that grow on several continents.

How to Identify a Mulberry Tree

In the wild, look for mulberries in floodplain woodlands. They are also common urban and suburban trees. Mulberry trees can get up to 60 feet tall, but they are most often much shorter than that. The trees have a scruffy appearance, with the branches sticking out at odd angles.

You’ll frequently find three leaf shapes growing on the same mulberry tree: a 2-lobed mitten shape, a 3-lobed leaf, and a roughly heart-shaped leaf. Note that there is another tree out there with those three leaf shapes: sassafras. But the leaf margins of sassafras are smooth, whereas those of mulberry are toothed. When there is only one leaf shape on a mulberry, it will be a simple heart shape. Whichever shape, mulberry leaves grow in an alternate arrangement.

The bark of mulberry trees develops craggy vertical furrows as the trees age. The branches emerge from the short trunks just a few feet above the ground.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368