How to Identify a Mulberry Tree
- 1). Look for medium-sized trees when trying to identify a mulberry. The white mulberry grows to a maximum height of around 40 feet, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees." The red mulberry is larger, with the tallest around 60 feet. Mulberries can have trunks as wide as 2 feet.
- 2). Examine the foliage on a mulberry tree. The leaves will be a shiny green, have serrations along their edges, and be as long as 7 inches. Mulberry leaves may be elliptical, have multiple lobes, or look like the outline of kids' winter mittens, with a place for the thumb and another for the finger, resulting in two large but distinct lobes.
- 3). Feel the leaves to determine their texture. Red mulberry leaves have a rough upper side, but on the underneath, they are pubescent (hairy) and softer to the touch. The leaves of white mulberry have a smooth surface.
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White mulberries when ripemulberry image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
Examine the flowers and the subsequent fruit of the mulberry tree. Mulberries, states the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website, have male and female flowers emerge in the springtime on separate trees. The cream-colored flowers are on the male tree, and the greenish flowers are female. Only the female trees bear fruit, which rapidly develops and matures by the middle of the summer. The red mulberries are ripe before the fruits of white mulberry. The red mulberry produces reddish-black fruit as long as 1.25 inches. White mulberries can be different colors, from purple to pink to cream white and are smaller, at about 3/4 inch. Mulberries are edible for birds, small animals, and people. - 5). Inspect the bark of mulberry trees. The red mulberry has a dark brown, scaly bark with ridges on the mature trees. The bark can take on an orange hue on the younger specimens. The white mulberry has a light brown bark. The sap of the mulberry trees can also help you to recognize it. It is sticky and milky white in color, a trait of the mulberry family of plants.
