Morus alba L.
Vernacular name: White mulberry, Shahtoot (Hindi: शाहतूत)
Species Name: Morus alba L.
Family: Moraceae
Habit: Deciduous tree.
Stem: Short trunk with spreading branches, 10–20 m tall, with smooth grey-brown bark becoming furrowed.
Leaf: Alternate, simple, ovate to mitten-shaped or 3-lobed, 8–20 × 6–15 cm, serrate, glossy green above, rough and hairy below; variable in shape on the same tree.
Flowering: Spring.
Flowers: Dioecious, catkin-like spikes; male spikes cylindrical, 1–2 cm, yellow-green; female spikes ovoid, about 1 cm; perianth 4-lobed, 4 stamens (anthers extrorse), sessile ovary.
Fruit: Multiple drupe aggregate, 1–2.5 cm long, ripening white, pink, or purple-black; sweet and edible
Uses:
- Primary leaf fodder for silkworm (Bombyx mori)- sericulture.
- Fruits edible fresh and cooked.
- Medicinally bark and leaves are used for diabetes, cough.
- Chinese silk route tree; invasive U.S. weed; Ayurvedic blood purifier.
