The orange pom-pom fruit of the Paper Mulberry. Photo by Green Deane
Broussonetia papyrifera: Paper Chase
If you are a forager, you will be told two things constantly: One is that the plant of your admiration is “poisonous.” Sometimes they are, often they are not. The other thing you will hear is that a particular species is a “trash tree.”
When I first asked about this species I was told by a knowledgeable botanist that it was a trash tree though at the time he did not know what species it was. Over the years I wondered about its identity. It resembled a basswood tree but wasn’t one. It was certainly prolific, growing in hursts everywhere, often in low spots or gullies and ditches. I watched it for several years but it never seemed to fruit. While it did form colonies I also saw an isolated tree now and then. I presumed it could either fruit or reproduce by cuttings and the like. In hindsight, compounding the issue is that a young tree’s leaves look very different than a mature tree’s leaves. Indeed, it was a lone young tree near a bike trail that got me on the track of solving the identity of my mystery tree.
Young Paper Mulberry leaves
What I discovered was that while it might be an invasive species it is far from a “trash tree.” Know as the Paper Mulberry, the Broussonetia papyrifera (brew-soh-NEE-she-uh pap-ih-RIFF-er-uh) has been used for thousands of years to make paper and cloth. Young leaves are edible cooked — chewy — and in the right climate it produces orange pom-pom-like fruit. The tree, with extra large leaves, soft on one side, rough on the other, is also a common source of woodland toilet paper.
Native to the cooler regions of Asia they were taken to the Pacific Islands for paper and cloth. Someone had the bright idea of taking only sterile male clones to control their proliferation plus the male trees produce the better bark for cloth and paper. However, they can clone themselves by runners. Big mistake. The Paper Mulberry was in Florida by 1903 with someone also introducing female trees as well. With males and females being able to clone plus seeds from the female the species went gangbusters.
Mature mulberry leaves
Two things compounded my identification and appreciation of the Paper Mulberry. The first, already mentioned, is that the leaves of the young Paper Mulberry look very different than the adult. They are palmate and very indented, resembling an ornamental, Chinese pitchfork. Older leaves are very large mittens with one or two lobes looking like left or right thumbs, double thumbs or no thumbs. The second issue was the species is from a temperate climate. Florida is not temperate. In my sub-temperate area they never fruit. Eighty miles north of here they do fruit but in years of watching they’ve never fruited locally (They might, however, if we have an exceptionally cold winter producing the necessary chill hours.) It took tid bits of observations over many years to finally sort out the species’ identity.
To call the fruit an orange pom-pom is actually quite accurate. It starts out as a green ball about the size of a large marble on the end of a two-inch stem. The ball is pitted much like a Bread Fruit, which it is related to, and the Osage Orange. Then the ball grows white hairs which eventually make the orange pom-pom part, which is edible. The ball is not edible as far as I know. The fruit is sweet, juicy and fragile. It does not travel well and is best eaten on the spot. Fruiting starts around April and ends by the end of June. Young leaves for food are steamed though they do have a texture issue. You can also chop them up and boil them as well. The larger leaves can be used to wrap food in for cooking.
At one time the Paper Mulberry was grouped with other mulberries, and is closely related, but was given its own genus Broussonetia named after Pierre Maria August Broussonet (1761-1807) a professor of botany at Montpelier, France. In the US the tree can be found From Massachusetts south to Florida, west to Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile
Ripe fruit
IDENTIFICATION: Paper mulberry is deciduous with milky sap to 45 ft. (15 m.). Twigs hairy reddish brown, on young trees zebra striped, older trees tan, smooth, furrowed. Wood is soft and brittle. Leaves are hairy, lobed or mitten-shaped, alternate, opposite or whorled along stem. Leaf edge sharply toothed, base heart-shaped to rounded with pointed tips, upper leaf surface is rough feeling. Separate male and female flowers in spring. Male flower clusters are elongate, pendulous, 2 ½ to 3 in. Female flowers globular about one inch in diameter. Fruits orange to reddish purple.
TIME OF YEAR: In Florida April to June, summer in northern areas, February to April in warmer climates.
ENVIRONMENT: Open sunny fields but also low areas such as ditched and gullies. Grows very fast and can be fruiting within 18 months.
METHOD OF PREPARATION: Fruit out of hand (orange parts only.) Young leaves steamed or boiled. Bark can be used to make paper and cloth (tapa). The fruit (grown in Thailand) is very high in calcium, potassium and magnesium. It also has trace amounts of arsenic (0.62 ppm) as many foods do. Deer like to nibble on the leaves.
Hello Mr. Deane. I was wondering if you could let me know if you could drink the extracts from the root bark of the paper mulberry as a tea and how is it prepared. How many cups can you take per day? Is the root bark poisonous or not? Can the root bark lighten the skin? I was told that it can lighten the skin.
With apologies, I know nothing about that. I forage for food. Your question is along herbalist/medicinal lines which I am not qualified to comment on.
Mr. Deane, you need to update your info somewhat. I have a volunteer tree in my back yard in Southern California! It is not available locally in any nurseries, so it is a true volunteer.
It DOES fruit here, and the fruit is tasty, although difficult to do anything with other than eat out of hand.
I’ve been a fellow forager for almost 50 years. Any idea where I could get dried serviceberries? The local ones are low quality.
Perhaps humidity also plays a rule. They will grow in California but until recenlty not well in Florida (they have a new species being established here.)
I got a volunteer, in southern California, too.
The female, fruiting body has appeared after weeks of rain.
Would you know where I can buy a Paper Mulberry tree?
I’ve been a fan of the purple mulberries since I was a kid. I now have purple, red, and white mulberries in my yard and would love to add a Paper Mulberry. This is the first I’ve heard of them.
Hi Carol I live in Louisiana and found one growing wild full of fruit.. so I took a few cuttings and have rooted them very successfully. I could send you a rooted cutting. You pay shipping and handling charges and like 20 bucks and I will send you one. You don’t have to pay me anything until you get your tree. I trust that you will reimburse me as I have to make a pretty long drive and hike through some very thick swamp to get to the tree. Up to you… let me know if you want one. You can text me at 225-247-9001. Thanks and God bless.
As I was reading this I looked out the window and what do I see? A paper mulberry. I live in north brevard county and I have seen them fruit here and even tasted the fruit. There are more in the orange groves near my house. Do they ever start at just one trunk like normal trees or do they always branch out near the ground?
They will send up several trunks if they have been cut down. Normally they have one trunk.
I find the Paper Mulberry’s fast-growing wood to be a good source of twigs for use in a Rocket Stove.
Aloha from Hawaii!
I am a cultivator and user of paper mulberry here, where I make the native tapa or kapa that was once the clothing, bedding, taxes, etc in Hawaii and Polynesia. I would be very interested in experimenting with the mulberry bark that grows throughout the US. Please feel free to contact me.
Book Eleven–Earthly Things : Fray Sahagun : Chapter 6 , paragraphs one through nine.
This tree grown in my farm (coimbatore,tamilnadu,india) on its own . Today only i went to forest department to know the name of the tree.This tree grow n to height of 10m within in a short period of 12 months.
Are there male and female trees and some don’t fruit? I have a tree I think is paper mulberry but I have never seen fruit or flowers on it like this.
There are he’s, she’s and clone males (which reproduce vegetatively, which was unexpected. They weren’t supposed to so they wouldn’t escape cultivation.)
The best thing about these trees in my opinion is their use for cordage. I don’t know how one would go about making paper or cloth from them, but the inner bark is exceptionally strong and makes a very good rope or twine. To do this, I’ll scrape the outer bark off with the back of a butter knife, then cut through the inner bark and pull it off in strips, which I’ll separate into small strips and hang to dry. Once they are dried, I can take two bundles of these strips, tie a knot at one end, and twist them opposite to each other so they will wrap around each other and hold a tight twist. As a bundle starts getting thin, I add in more strips to bulk it back up, and in this way, I can continue making a long rope.
These ropes are stronger than any other wild cordage I’ve come across, and the strips I can peel from the trees are much longer and of better quality than any other wild cordage I’ve encountered.
Hi Mr Adler, are you not interested to buying fresh/dried fibre if I process them for you and send. We can negotiate on the best price.
Hear from you.
Thanks for the info Michael, I’m going to try that for plant ties.
I am interested in what is the best use of this species and so glad to come across this web. There is reasonable good stand of this species growing rapidly fast in Guadalcanal Island,in Solomon Islands and somehow people regard the species as weed or invassive. My interest is to find the best way I can utilise this resource and so glad to meet Dalani Tahany and Michael Adler who seem to attrach my interest.
Would it be possible to have more talk with these two people and find out if I can export the fibre or bark to them. Will be so happy to here from them. Many thanks
Ripe in Baltimore now. (It’s mid-August.) I’ve been tracking this for two years. I identified it in the fall of 2011, after the fruit dropped. I missed it in 2012, having gone to the tree in June and July to see very immature fruit formed and then later in August to find the fruit dropped.
I set a reminder on my calendar this time around. Worth the wait… and the nibble, because very little is edible. Extremely sweet. It reminded me of a cross between mulberry and kiwi. I collected about two points. Too much of the fruit was out of reach, unfortunately.
As Green Deane wrote, this is very fragile. I managed to keep this a day in the refrigerator to share with friends. This is certainly not anything substantial, not enough to add to yogurt or oatmeal, etc., but it is a fun, exotic-looking treat.
Hi, I’m not far from Baltimore and have been trying to find female trees. Would you share the location with me? I know this post is super old, but thought I’d try!
Chinese use yang paper muberry leaves tea for skin disease.
I would like to talk with you in the future. I have worked with PMB for about 3 years ,and find it a fascinating tree. Please contact me .
Boyd
hi green dean enjoyed your ocala class and thanks for the purslane.i found something similar in my garden. the texture of the leaves are the same but ends or tips are pointed like a sword not rounded and the stem is red. Is this another kind of purslane and is it edible.
Hmmm. Might be Portulaca pilosa, not edible by my opinion.
Thank you so much for clearing up my personal mystery. I am fond of foraging, even though I’m kind of limited here in Central Florida. I do, however, have (as I now know) huge paper mulberry trees in my yard. They fruited for the first time this year, I of course I wondered if they were edible. They have such a melon-like fragrance, I suspected they were but now you have solved the mystery. Thanks so much!
Hi, there is a tree in the back yard here in Baltimore that is fruiting right now, (late July). It looks to have been cut back/down numerous times, (I just moved in this past winter, so I do not know how old the plant is, but the leaves appear to be that of a younger tree), and is now about 18 feet/6 meters tall with 2 main trunks and 3 smaller ones and is sprouting leaves from the tip to the ground, with the fruit starting at about 7 ft high. I almost cut it down this winter because it’s appearance was that of most ‘trash trees’; scraggly, many times cut back, dead and broken branches and trunks. I decided, just for kicks and giggles just to prune the deadwood and see what grew. And I am glad I did, just to see the cool looking, (and sweet, I just ate one), fruit ‘balls’.
I am also glad I stumbled onto this post while trying to find out what it was. My first thought was sassafras, but (obviously) the leaves looked too sharp and angular. Take care, Thanks, and Good Foraging.
Do you think I could find this in the northern states? I live in Michigan and the climate can be fairly cold, especially now (we got 2 inches of snow today) If you have any knowledge, please tell, thanks 🙂
I live in lakeland Fl . and the Paper Mulberry Fruits here in april an again in june – july . The leaves are good forage for Ruminants and people .
I’ve never seen it fruit south of Ocala. When you say fruit, what do you mean?
I would like to buy a paper mulberry. where can I get one? (I live in Maryland, but can also buy online)
Come up to Philadelphia in mid-summer when these things fruit. They grow by the hundreds all around lots in Center City and near the Zoo. You can get countless seeds!
Yes. We live near the zoo and have one in an empty lot. The fruits are just starting to turn orange and sweet!
I live in ocala and there are many many here it is a good fruit but very fragile I can ship 1 to you plz message me outdoors69420@gmail.com
Hi cindy… I will sell you a small rooted cutting and I will even send some fresh cuttings to make sure you have the best possible chance of it propagating successfully. Just text me if interested at 225-247-9001.
I have a lot of these in my yard, sprouting up like crazy from extended roots. The bark is stripped and strong and the trunk is very wet. The young leaves are like pictures above but adult leaves are heart shaped and fuzzy. I have been watching them since February this year. I have not seen fruit yet. I would like to keep some of the trees but the pop up everywhere and grow super fast, overtaking my entire yard. I have pulled roots 30 plus feet to try to contain grow area. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Wish I could post pictures. Any other ideas on getting rid of them? I really don’t want to mow my yard every week to keep new ones down .
Paper mulberry is a invasive species, coppice easily. You can try the following:
Trees can be controlled through cutting and herbicide applications.
During the growing season, trees should be cut near ground level, followed by an immediate application of herbicide to the stump in
order to destroy the root system. Apply a 25 percent solution of
glyphosate mixed with water to cut stumps or girdle wounds. If cutting is not feasible and the tree is less than six inches in diameter, herbicide may be applied to the lower trunk.
From late winter to late summer, a solution of 20
percent triclopyr (such as Garlon® 4) mixed in oil may be applied in a 12-inch band around the base of the tree.
Foliar applications of 2 percent glyphosate mixed with water may be considered in areas where the risk to non-target species is minimal.
Apply to both female and male trees..
No No and No.. on applying glyphosphate AKA ROUNDUP ! on your yard
I don’t know how well it would work, but look up how to control the spread of bamboo through their underground rhizomes. You could dig a trench around where you want the plants, and cut all the rhizomes passing through that trench. There’ll still be plants on the other side, but now you have less space they can go. Try digging a trench around where you think all of the plants are, and work your way in. Try dumping boiling water on new plants.
I studied paper making in Japan some 30 years ago and brought back to Israel 7 root cuttings of Kozo ( the Japanese word for paper mulberry) and ever since I grow them for my papermaking . to do so ,I cut the branches low every year to get young and flexible bark which makes beautiful paper. I have about 600 trees now.only male trees. the plant is called in Hebrew “Tut Neyar”
If it wouldn’t take too long, could you give the basics of papermaking with this species? I have them in my garden and would like to make use of them.
Jezz,
Google tapa making. Though tapa is the paper cloth made by the hawaiis it is paper. Very soft too. The would strip the inner bark, soak it and then pound it into sheets, they would then dry it in the sun.
This is of course the shortest simplistic explanation, as I said google.
How do you make paper from the paper mulberry what is the process?
Izhar Neumann,
You story of paper mulberry started in Japan sounds very interesting. I just returned from Tokyo a week ago and found
there a number of benefits out of that mulberry.
Do you think I may get five or six pieces of cuttings, each
about two feet long? I am more than happy to pay for that.
I live in Colorado for the last thirty years, by the way I was born in Japan and educated there.
Looking forward some reply from you.
Thomas, Nov 27, 2019
Thanks so much for the wonderful bio of the Paper Mulberry and the amazingly informative discussion.
I live in New York City and this tree pops up throughout the city. It overwhelmed my tiny back yard and I just had to cut them down. I was kinda sorry to do it, it’s such an interesting-looking tree. But, they just grew too big and too fast.
I have a much better understanding about their history and uses, now, from this discussion. I’ll have a better respect for them when I see them in vacant lots and parks around here….maybe even get a chance to taste some fruit, if my timing is good. LOL
Thanks for a great site!
Jess
My father planted what he thought was a “weir maple” in the early 60’s in our backyard in CA, 60 mi from SF. At some point he “topped” the tree. It grew into a magnificent shade tree. The plant continuously shot up starts all over the yard and the lawn was rittled with roots. When I sold our family home in 1997, the tree had spread to the parkway next to us. I made bonsai’s out of two starts. They’ve made beautiful little trees with their crooked branches. Before I moved to NY, I asked the owner of Alden Lane nursery if she could identify it as her father had sold the tree to my father. Low and behold, it was a male paper mulberry. I lost one of the bonsai’s this year. Any one know where I can get another one or two?
I will sell you a small rooted cutting and I will include some fresh cuttings as well so you have the best chance of propagating… text me at 225-247-9001
Hey Green,
i have lived in Gainesville (FL) since ’93 and have come across several fruiting trees. One was behind the Newberry Branch Library and one day when I went in to fix a computer, the staff asked me if I knew what kind of tree that was fruiting behind the library. (I thought it was kinda funny, librarians asking me, a network tech to identify a tree). But as soon as they led me to it I knew. I told them that it was a Paper Mulberry and gave them a short history of the tree.) i picked some fruit and we all ate it. They were delighted. (About a couple of months ago, the tree was cut down when they expanded the library. sad indeed).
Also, for the last 15 years, my dog (who recently passed) and I would walk every day through the woods in Gainesville near our house and forage for plants. I was always thinking to myself that there is so much food around growing everywhere that people just don’t see. (forest for the trees kinda thing) We would find tons of wild grapes, passionflower fruit (maypops…my favorite) and lots more edible stuff.
Anyway, I surely enjoyed your post on Paper Mulberry. ( I got to your site because I was explaining the tree to a co-worker and sent her a link to your site. ) Happy Foraging. -Harold
There are tons of these trees here in Ocala, Fl and I have two on my yard doing well. Have to trim them very often, so that they will stay under control, they grow very fast! There is tall one nearby that produces the fruit every year and when it does next time, I am going to eat the fruit. lol. Also, after reading the history of this tree, I was truly amazed at the usefulness and how beneficial these beautiful trees are. Wow!
I found 3 specimens of Mulberry in my country, nobody here knows the tree (white, red and black fruits).
Here it grows like giant. Good shadow for summer.
Santiago de Chile, South America.
You have a wonderful site! Regarding the paper mulberry I wanted to add that in my childhood growing up on my grandfather’s farm in Virginia, everyone called this tree by the name “cut paper” tree. I always assumed the name came from the various shapes of the leaves, like they were cut from paper – but am happy to learn that the tree is actually used for making paper.
Hi Green, please let me further stress on the uses you’ve already mentioned about Paper Mulberry. For making paper, the plant has fibers distinguished for being very long compared to e.g. wood pulp or cotton which means even thin sheets from Paper Mulberry are extremely strong. Accordingly the authorities at the Brooklyn Museum (please refer to: http://brooklynmuseum.tumblr.com/post/127785985303/this-object-is-a-quranic-writing-board-or-tablet ) have used strips of Asian Paper Mulberry tissue paper to repair a cord tied around a Quor’anic writing board – a tablet, vernacular “loah”, from my country Sudan. According to the reference it was likely in the late 19th. to 20th. century. As children our ancestors (we too) used “loahs” far back before that date to study and memorise Quor’an. I’m pleased to say these days are the fasting days of “ Rumudan” also called the “Month of Quor’an” when Muslims celebrate the month and abide with all requirements – emphasis is on reciting Quor’an (a letter cited is heavily weighed in terms of worship). “The month of Rumudan is that in which the Quor’an is revealed, a guidance to people and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then he shall fast a number of other days;….” – holy verse.
This information is from botanical.com A modern Herbal by Mrs. M. Grieve
—Medicinal Action and Uses—The sole use of Mulberries in modern medicine is for the preparation of a syrup, employed to flavour or colour any other medicine. Mulberry Juice is obtained from the ripe fruit of the Mulberry by expression and is an official drug of the British Pharmacopoeia. It is a dark violet or purple liquid, with a faint odour and a refreshing, acid, saccharine taste. The British Pharmacopceia directs that Syrupus Mori should be prepared by heating 50 fluid drachms of the expressed juice to boiling point, then cooling and filtering. Ninety drachms of sugar is then dissolved in the juice, which is warmed up again. When once more cooled, 6.25 drachms of alcohol is added: the product should then measure about 100 drachms (20 fluid ounces). The dose is 2 to 1 fluid drachm, but it is, as stated, chiefly used as an adjuvant rather than for its slightly laxative and expectorant qualities, though used as a gargle, it will relieve sore throat.
The juice of the American Red Mulberry may be substituted; it is less acid than the European, while that of the White Mulberry, native of China, is sweet, but rather insipid.
In the East, the Mulberry is most productive and useful. It is gathered when ripe, dried on the tops of the houses in the sun, and stored for winter use. In Cabul, it is pounded to a fine powder, and mixed with flour for bread.
The bark of M. nigra is reputed anthelmintic, and is used to expel tape worm.
The root-bark of M. Indica (Rumph) and other species is much used in the East under the name of San-pai-p’i, as a diuretic and expectorant.
The Morinda tinctoria, or Indian Mulberry, is used by the African aborigines as a remedial agent, but there is no reliable evidence of its therapeutic value.
A parasitic fungus growing on the old stems of Mulberry trees found in the island of Meshima, Japan, and called there Meshimakobu, brown outside and yellow inside, is used in Japan for medicine.
Gerard recommends the fruit of the Mulberry tree for use in all affections of the mouth and throat.
‘The barke of the root,’ he says, ‘is bitter, hot and drie, and hath a scouring faculty: the decoction hereof doth open the stoppings of the liver and spleen, it purgeth the belly, and driveth forth wormes.’
With Parkinson, the fruit was evidently not in favour, for he tells us:
‘Mulberries are not much desired to be eaten, although they be somewhat pleasant both for that they stain their fingers and lips that eat them, and do quickly putrefie in the stomach, if they be not taken before meat.’
The Mulberry family, Moraceae, formerly regarded, together with the Ulmacece (Elm family), as a division of the Urticaceae (Nettle family), comprises upwards of 50 genera and about 900 species, of very diverse habit and appearance. Among them are the highly important food-plants Ficus (Fig) and Artocarpus (Bread fruit). M. tinctoria (Linn.), sometimes known as Machura tinctoria (D. Don), but generally now named Chlorophora tinctoria (Gaudich.), yields the dye-stuff Fustic, chiefly used for colouring wood of an orange-yellow colour. The tree is indigenous in Mexico and some of the West Indies, the wood being imported in logs of various sizes. This kind of fustic is known as old fustic, or Cuba fustic. Young fustic is a different product, obtained from Rhus cotinus (Linn.). It is known also as Venetian or Hungarian sumach, and is used in the Tyrol for tanning leather. The extract of fustic is imported as well as the wood. From Maclura Brasiliensis (Endl.) another important dye-wood is obtained. A yellow dye is also derived from the root of the Osage Orange (Toxylon pomiferum, Raf.), belonging to this order. The milky juice of Brosimum Galactodendron (Don) – the Cow or Milk-Tree of Tropical America – is said to be usable as cow’s milk, and ‘Bread-nuts’ are the edible seeds of another member of this genus, B. Alicastrum (Swz.), of Jamaica. The famous deadly Upas Tree of the East Indies (Antiaris toxicaria, Lesc.) is a less useful member of this family.
The bast-fibres of many Moraceae are tough and are used in the manufacture of cordage and paper. The Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera, Vint.) is cultivated extensively in Japan. It is a native of China, introduced into Great Britain early in the eighteenth century and is a coarse-growing, vigorous shrub, or a tree up to 30 feet, forming a roundish, spreading head of branches. The young wood is thickly downy, soft and pithy, the leaves very variable in size and form, often shaped like fig-leaves, the upper surface dull, green and rough, the lower surface densely woolly. It is a dioecious plant, the male flowers in cylindrical, often curly, woolly catkins, the female flowers in ball-like heads, producing round fruits congregated of small, red, pulpy seeds. In Japan, the stems are cut down every winter, so that the shrub only attains a height of 6 or 7 feet, and the barks are stripped off as an important material for paper. B. Kajinoki (Sieb.) is a deciduous tree, wild in Japan, growing 29 to 30 feet high, similar to the Paper Mulberry and made use of in like manner, though inferior. The ripe fruits are beautifully red and sweet. Paper is also manufactured in Japan with the fibre of the bark of B. kaempferi (Sieb.), a deciduous climber. A good paper may be manufactured from the bast of the Morus alba, var. stylosa (Bur.), Jap. ‘Kuwa,’ but as this plant is used especially for feeding silkworms, the paper made from the branches after the leaves are taken off for silkworms is of a very inferior quality. Mrs. M. Grieve is a weel known herbalist from the 1930s Her two book herbal series is are well worn in many herbalists collections.
When I first saw the ripe fruit in some of these trees which have become highly prolific in Philadelphia, I thought they were some type of fruit infected with that fungus which sprouts slimy reddish or orangish tendrils from relatives of gooseberries!
I’ve since tasted some, and the ones in the city are faintly sweet, but really difficult to gather since they squish instantly and not really worth the effort.
This invasive species is growing in my back yard never knew it had any use..thanks for info
I would like to get paper mulberry tree to make paper – does anyone have cuttings to share or know where to buy one?
There’s a flowering/fruiting paper mulberry tree at the Sumterville Community Building near I-75 in Sumter County. I’m sure it can be propagated from. (note fruit formation 30 mi south of Ocala)
I am also interested in obtaining some cuttings of
paper mulberry tree.
If you hear some good news of that please let me know, too.
Thomas, Colorado
I can sell you a few. text me at 225-247-9001 if interested.
Thank you for the excellent discourse on the Moracea!
I will sell you a small rooted one and include some fresh cuttings also. If interested text me at 225-247-9001.
Fruits are edible and good, but the central ball has tiny hairs or something, that will rough up your lips really badly if care isn’t taken. Not that big of a deal but it’s annoying.
Source: a very big lipped, for a few minutes, fellow.
Thank you for your article. I was at the Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia this past weekend for a tour of their historic trees. Along the edges of the property were Broussonetia papyrifera the Paper Mulberry. The fruits were beginning to ripen here in Philadelphia in the fall not the spring as mentioned in the article above. Are there different fruiting times that you know of?? I teach woody plants and have long been intrigued by this plant. Thank you in advance.
There is often two seasons, a full spring and a lesser fall fruiting.
Can you ship me some cuttings of Paper Mulberry?
Thomas Kato
Woodland Park, CO 80863
May 10, 2019
Are you still wanting cuttings of a paper mulberry? If so text me 225-247-9001
Ok, I read this post years ago and here in Jacksonville the trees are everywhere. I’ve been keeping an eye out for fruit and today I found a dozen trees with fruit. They were loaded with the green balls so I guess there’ll be fruit for a couple weeks at least.
Michael,
I may have to visit Jacksonville to see the trees.
Thomas, Colorado
I am well acquainted with this tree. About 20 years ago I discovered some fast growing saplings in my yard. The shape of the leaves are what struck me as I had never before seen a tree like this before. Anyhow, I went tot he library and identified the tree for what is was and got the bright idea to transplant it and cultivate it as a shade tree right behind my house. Big mistake! Well, I will say that it fast became a shade tree; however, all the grass died beneath its canopy. Then came the mushy catkins and leaves that would stick to the bottom of my shoes and resembled doggie doo. The last straw was the pollen that these trees put out. I saw one day and watched green dust puffing from the catkins. A local tree expert advised me to get rid of these as I will regret allowing them to thrive. I took his advice and removed not one, but two that I transplanted. The roots are mostly surface roots but extend great distances. What happened next was astounding. As if something right out of a 1950’s Sci-Fi movie, little paper mulberries began sprouting up everywhere. Now they persist 20 years later and I am constantly pulling them up. A year ago I was visiting Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia and spotted a colony of female paper mulberries with their fruits.
Someone else in Hawaii! I was wondering
• I know this species has been introduced to the islands because it is a Canoe plant, but is it still considered invasive? Should I not grow it because of this?
• I’ve actually never incountered one. Well actually I guess I wasn’t looking for them. But do you still think I could find one? (I’m on O’ahu)
• I may be getting chickens in the future. Is the fruit safe for them?
• Do the female trees spread through underground shoots like the males?
• I know the pollen is considered allergenic. Is this a problem for many on O’ahu?
• I have read that rodents like the fruits. If I grow this tree, will I be contributing to the rat population? Is there any way to avoid this?
• Will the tree even fruit at all? I know you were saying that it’s a temperate tree and that it only fruits in this climate. Does this hold true for Hawaii?
• If you strip the bark off, will it kill the plant? I’m thinking about trying out making kapa.
• On average, how much space does the tree need? How far out will it’s rhizomes go out? How far down do the roots go? How far out will the canopy reach?
• Are the leaves edible raw?
• Will this tree be harmful to the birds in any way that I should know about?
• Can the raw leaves be used for anything other than eating?
• Will a rhizome barier used for running bamboos keep this plants rhizomes from spreading? If this kind of barier would work, how deep would it have to be?
• I know that a couple of trees allow plant growth under them because either their leaves curl up at night allowing the early morning rains through, or the leaves aren’t that dense. Will this tree allow any plants grow under it? What about shade grasses?
• Is there anything else I should know about this plant in Hawaii?
Sorry for so many questions. I just wanted to put them all down. Feel free to answer as many or few as you feel. Mahalo and aloha.
I’m in North Central Florida and while I do find Paper Mulberry useful for cordage, it is EXTREMELY invasive in our area. They grow insanely fast (I’ve personally found tiny saplings an inch or two tall and then find them double in height the following day) and they are difficult to kill or manage with common herbicides. A single tree can easily take over an area and because of its broad leaves beat out competing local flora for sunlight. Besides the occasional forager like the author, I have never seen any animal or insect eat the fruits or attack the bark, so as far as I can tell there are no (local to NCF at least) natural ‘managers’ of Paper Mulberry.
What I’m trying to get at is that please PLEASE don’t plant this tree without contact a local agriculture or flora specialist. The invasive natural of this tree is absolutely insane.
This is a horrible tree. Invasive, non native. I’ve tried for 20 years to rid my yard of this awful thing. It pops up everywhere including my shrubs, gardens, under my huge pines. This tree is obnoxious. Go with the native tree Red mulberry not this invasive horrible thing.
I live in the village of Gaianes in the Alicante province of Spain.I have an avenue of 6 of these trees and have never seen fruit only catkins,When the leaves fall they make a lot of mess as do the catkins.They seem to be able to propogate easily all over my garden & are one of the most flood, drought & heat resistant plants I have ever seen.For the 3 months of hot summer here( 35 to 42 oC ) they give wonderful shade.Is there any other use for them.Also do they toxify the soil as nothing seems to grow where their root system invades flower borders.Many thanks from Simon.
Recently, I found a fruiting paper mulberry tree and gobbled down quite a few of the berries–more than ten, I’d say. What stopped me from consuming more was a burning sensation on my lips and in my mouth similar to that of pineapple. I am curious if you know what in the paper mulberry is responsible for that? Is it the same enzyme that is in pineapple?
Recently? They fruit locally around April. This is November. Different fruit or different part of the world?
I shouldn’t have written “recent”. It was earlier this year in central Florida. Around April seems right. I’m confident it was the fruit of the paper mulberry, considering the distinctive leaves and bark. Have you not noticed the irritation similar to that of unripe pineapple? It might have been from the core (which I didn’t eat but it made contact with my lips and tongue) and not the jelly-like fruit part. Or maybe it was from the not-so-ripe ones. I’m not sure.
Thanks for the response.
Paper on use of paper mulberry in treatment of Covid from Portugal.
tsn
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Can Plant Extracts Effectively Inhibit SARS-CoV-2—The Results of a Portugal Review Study Look Promising
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TrialSite Staff
Staff at TrialSite | Quality Journalism
Feb. 4, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
Can natural products be used as a means of combating COVID-19? Afterall, plant-based chemistry has been at work in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for centuries, based on plants: long the source of individual molecules and extracts capable of inhibiting/neutralizing several microorganisms, including viruses. In fact, natural extracts have demonstrated potential efficacy against various pathogens in the coronavirus families, although that fact isn’t touted much by mainstream media in the West. But plenty of misinformation associated with this topic continues to circulate across cyberspace. There are reasons medical products are tightly regulated at the national level. Only after careful and systematic research demonstrating safety and effectiveness will such natural products be authorized by relevant authorities. In that spirit, recently, a group of collaborating scientists from Portugal, affiliated with the Mountain Research Institute and the Catholic University of Portugal (Center for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry), investigated select plant metabolites and their potential therapeutic value targeting SARS-CoV, the virus behind COVID-19. Of particular interest to the Portugal-based scientists, represented by corresponding author Lillian Barros, Ph.D., a biotech engineer with a focus on biotechnology and food chemistry, was a couple of molecules associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as the world’s biggest population depends heavily on this approach targeting COVID-19. In this Portugal-based study, the team studied plant extracts on coronaviruses, discussing results, including the primary inhibition assays and future trends associated with COVID-19.
What are the primary strategies to inhibit or stop SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19?
Researchers have determined a couple pathways for therapy to work, including 1) inhibiting of SARS-CoV-2 penetration by preventing SARS-CoV-2 S-ACE2 binding interactions and 2) the inhibiting of protease enzymes such as Mpro (main protease), 3CLpro (3C-like protease) and PLpro (papain-like protease).
Enter this investigation into plant metabolites targeting SARS-CoV-2
The study team centered their investigation on select plants associated with TCM, for example, and the derived molecules that can actually bind with glycoprotein and consequently stop membrane fusion included A) luteolin (11 µM) and TGG (tetra-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose, 5.0 µM), both taken from TCM that do bind with spike glycoprotein. The team looked at other plant-based molecules.
The study team used the SCOPUS database and associated software to better understand a relation between plants and SARS-CoV02. They report about 1504 documents surfaced based on targeted keywords from 2020 to 2022. Selecting output with at least one of the chosen search terms, the team used specialized software to organize output by relevance and relationship.
What’s interesting about plant-based molecules potentially capable of stopping what’s known as cysteine proteases?
It turns out that SARS-CoV-2 thrives thanks to an enzyme called 3CLpro, responsible for the processing of proteins essential for the novel coronaviruses thriving. Hence why, drugs such as Paxlovid fall in the class of 3CLpro inhibition.
Other inhibitors involving both PLpro and 3CLpro identified by the researchers include chalcones, especially chalcone 6 as well. Some properties associated with plans inhibit PLpro with more effectiveness—such as polyphenol compounds taken from the leaves of the paper mulberry tree native to eastern Asia. For example, the following compounds are identified by the researchers as falling in this category (inhibiting PLpro more intensely than against 3CLpro):
broussochalcone A
broussochalcone B
kazinol J
kazinol B
4-hydroxyisolonchocarpin
kazinol A
broussoflavan A
papyriflavonol A
kazinol F
Overall, the team reported in their paper published in MDPI that of the compounds studied, Papyriflavonol A shows superior ability to inhibit PLpro enzyme. While one compound could inhibit both the relevant proteins—PLpro and 3CLpro: Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge-derived lipophilic tanshinones.
The researchers analyze the plant-based metabolites’ potential for contributing to regimen targeting SARS-CoV-2, including several other examples.
What’s a takeaway?
The scientific literature suggests a definite therapeutic value associated with certain plant extracts, including ones involved in TCM, targeting SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19. The Portuguese researchers document a particular interest in bioactive molecules such as alkaloid compounds as well as phenolic substances from chalcones and flavonoids to tannins and lignins to glycosides. Likely, with targeted focus and investment in this plant-based medicinal approach, companies focusing on this area could offer substantially safe and effective, not to mention economical treatments against COVID-19. But would this fit into the biopharmaceutical business model?
What institutions were involved?
Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), or the Mountain Research Center, affiliated with the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia located in Bragança, a city in the far northeastern corner of Portugal along with CBQF—Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina—Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Rua de Diogo Botelho, Porto, a coastal city in the northwest of this Southern European nation.
Lead Research/Investigator
Lillian Barros, Ph.D., Corresponding Author.
Call to Action: Read the study results in MDPI.
References
MDPI
COVID-19
Metabolics
Traditional Medicine
SARS-CoV-2
I found one of these in my backyard. I grabbed some fruit off the tree and it was very very slimy. Is it supposed to be that way? The slime left my hand a little irritated. I didn’t try it because I was nervous something might be wrong with it.