red mulberry Morus rubra Kingdom: Plantae FEATURES Division: Magnoliophyta Red mulberry is a medium-sized, deciduous tree that Class: Magnoliopsida may attain a height of 50 feet and a trunk diameter Order: Urticales of two feet. Its dark-brown bark is divided into long, scaly plates. The slender, smooth or hairy twigs are Family: Moraceae red-brown to dark-brown. The pointed, brown buds ILLINOIS STATUS are smooth and about one-fourth inch long. Leaves are arranged alternately along the stem. These common, native simple leaves are generally oval in shape with a heart-shaped base. A leaf may be six inches long and nearly that wide. The toothed leaf may have one, two or no lobes. The upper leaf surface is green and rough, while the lower surface is pale and hairy. The leafstalk is nearly one and one-half inches long. Flowers appear as the leaves unfold. Male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are separate and may be located on the same or different trees. The male flowers develop in green clusters that may be two inches long. Female flowers are produced in short spikes about one inch long. The fruits are drupes (seeds surrounded by a hard covering in turn covered by fleshy material). The drupes are a maximum of one and one-half inches long. These fruits are red at first then become tree in summer purple, or nearly black, as they ripen. BEHAVIORS ILLINOIS RANGE Red mulberry may be found throughout Illinois. It grows in lowland or upland woods and field edges. Flowers are produced from April through May. The fruits are a food source for wildlife. The orange- brown wood of this tree is light, soft and durable. Red mulberry wood is used in fence posts and barrels.

© Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 2021. Biodiversity of Illinois. Unless otherwise noted, photos and images © Illinois Department of Natural Resources. leaves fruit

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Aquatic Habitats bottomland forests

Woodland Habitats bottomland forests; southern Illinois lowlands; upland deciduous forests

Prairie and Edge Habitats edge © Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 2021. Biodiversity of Illinois. Unless otherwise noted, photos and images © Illinois Department of Natural Resources.