Mulberries-Red, Black, or White (Which has best Flavor)

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

Just like the title says. I was thinking about getting a mulberry tree. Which has the best flavor. Or which tree is the best. If you have one of each, will they still breed true to seed if planted.

Better yet. Which type is a hybrid. Which type is considered Heirloom.

Thank you.

 

[Lavender44]

I like red

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I like red

Thank you for your time in answering my question.

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Another question..
These trees get large.
Can they be pruned to stay a bit smaller.
Or do they come on dwarf stalk at all.

I totally dont know any thing about this plant, except that it gets lots of fruit.

 

[elf]

We had a red one where I grew up. Good, but berries are fragile like soft super sweet little blackberries. Taste best to me when not fully ripe. Best to put a sheet under and pick up often before the birds get there, or shake lightly. Unfortunately, the really ripe ones often squish when they hit ground, and spoil quickly. Yes, the height of the tree, which grew quickly, made it too hard to reach them after just a few yrs. So we let the birds have most of them. Maybe we could have pruned it.

 

[ksacres]

They get big. We had red (berries turn black when ripe, but still considered red) ones when I was little. The fully ripe berries are very sweet, but the flavor is not very complex, so some people find them bland, even though they are sweet.

I would stick with the red, but that's because it's what I know. From what I've read, the red is native to America, while the white is from Asia. They will hybridize with each other to create pink berries. I just think it would be weird to eat pink or white berries, because growing up, the trees young berries are light colored and turn from white/greenish, to pink, to red to black. Only the black ones are worth eating, the unripe berries are very tart and will make you sick.

Even though the trees get big, ours always had low branches that produced plenty of fruit within jumping or climbing distance. And, if all else fails, there's always a ladder...

 

[ksacres]

Just wanted to add-they are very hardy once established. They might be considered a non-desirable berry by many, but they don't require maintenance either. No pruning, no "this year/last year cane" stuff, no fuss. And they are prolific, I mean, berries upon berries upon berries. But they don't keep, so you have to have a plan for them once they are off the tree.

But beware, they will stain anything they fall onto and also, the birds will poop purple EVERYWHERE. So keep this in mind if you plant one.

Mulberries were always my favorite, because they were the first ripe fruit of the season.

They will also produce runners/suckers so you can dig and transplant if you want more trees.

All in all, I'd say Mulberries are a widely overlooked and constantly underrated tree.

 

[StupidBird]

In horticulture class, we were told the white ones - Morus alba- were hallucinogenic, not to be eaten. I always wondered how many of my classmates ran around testing that. Anybody here know if that is true?

In Indiana/Ohio, this was considered a good pasture tree. It is very messy, but a really nice shade tree, tough, and tasty. Morus rubra.

 

[ksacres]

In horticulture class, we were told the white ones - Morus alba- were hallucinogenic, not to be eaten. I always wondered how many of my classmates ran around testing that. Anybody here know if that is true?

In Indiana/Ohio, this was considered a good pasture tree. It is very messy, but a really nice shade tree, tough, and tasty. Morus rubra.

I grew up in Indiana. I haven't seen any Mulberries here.

The leaves, stems, unripe berries and the tree itself contains some kind of mild toxin. I don't know much about the white ones, though I imagine the same is true.

 

[StupidBird]

If you're in Indiana, go to my relatives' farms up around Logansport. They used have these and honey locust trees in the pastures.

 

[hoodat]

In horticulture class, we were told the white ones - Morus alba- were hallucinogenic, not to be eaten. I always wondered how many of my classmates ran around testing that. Anybody here know if that is true?

In Indiana/Ohio, this was considered a good pasture tree. It is very messy, but a really nice shade tree, tough, and tasty. Morus rubra.

I remember when that report on the leaves making halucinogenic tea first came out all the hippies tried it but all they got was a case of the runs.