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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = White Mulberry
| image = Morus-alba.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = White Mulberry leaves and fruit
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Rosales]]
| familia = [[Moraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Mulberry|Morus]]''
| species = '''''M. alba'''''
| binomial = ''Morus alba''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
The '''White Mulberry''' (''Morus alba'') is a short-lived, fast-growing, small to medium sized tree to 15-20 m tall, native to eastern [[Asia]].
[[Image:Morus alba fruits.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ripening fruit of a wild color-like variety]]
On young, vigorous shoots, White Mulberry [[leaf|leaves]] may be up to 20 cm long, and deeply and intricately lobed, with the lobes rounded. On older trees, the leaves are generally 8-15 cm long, entire, cordate at the base and acuminate at the tip, and serrated on the margin. The [[fruit]] is insipid, unlike the much more intense flavour of the [[Red Mulberry]] and [[Black Mulberry]]. The fruit varies from white to pink in colour in many cultivated plants, but the natural fruit colour of the species in the wild is deep purple.
The White Mulberry is scientifically notable for its [[rapid plant movement]]. The flowers fire pollen into the air by rapidly (25 μs) releasing stored elastic energy in the stamen. The resulting movement is in excess of half the speed of sound, making it the fastest movement in the plant kingdom.
===Cultivation and uses===
The leaves are the preferred feedstock for [[silkworm]]s, and are also cut for food for livestock ([[cattle]], [[goat]]s, etc.) in areas where dry seasons restrict the availability of ground vegetation.
White Mulberry is extensively planted throughout the warm temperate [[Northern Hemisphere]], and is [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] in urban areas of the [[United States]], where it [[hybrid]]ises to some extent with the U.S. native [[Red Mulberry]] (''Morus rubra''). In fact, some authorities worry about the long-term genetic viability of Red Mulberry because of extensive hybridization in some areas. The white mulberry is widely dispersed by birds, which eat the fruit and excrete the seeds, and is considered an [[invasive plant]] in parts of North America.[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MOAL] The white mulberry is also grown ornamentally in Afghanistan and for its berries, which are often eaten dried.
A weeping [[cultivar]] of White Mulberry ''Morus alba'' 'Pendula' is a popular [[ornamental plant]]. Weeping plants are propagated by [[grafting]] the weeping cultivar onto a non weeping [[rootstock]].
==Ethnomedical Uses==
In [[Traditional Chinese Medicine]], ''Morus Alba'' fruit is used to treat prematurely grey hair, to "tonify" the blood, treat [[constipation]], and [[diabetes]].
The bark is used to treat cough, wheezing, [[edema]], and to promote [[urination]].
It is also used to treat fever, headache, red dry and sore eyes, as well as cough.
==External links==
* [http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0934-0882&volume=19&issue=1&spage=19 High-speed pollen release in the white mulberry tree, Morus alba L]
[[Category:Moraceae|Mulberry, White]]
[[Category:Flora of Armenia|Mulberry, White]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = White Mulberry
| image = Morus-alba.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = White Mulberry leaves and fruit
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Rosales]]
| familia = [[Moraceae]]
| genus = ''[[Mulberry|Morus]]''
| species = '''''M. alba'''''
| binomial = ''Morus alba''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}
The '''White Mulberry''' (''Morus alba'') is a short-lived, fast-growing, small to medium sized tree to 15-20 m tall, native to eastern [[Asia]].
[[Image:Morus alba fruits.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Ripening fruit of a wild color-like variety]]
On young, vigorous shoots, White Mulberry [[leaf|leaves]] may be up to 20 cm long, and deeply and intricately lobed, with the lobes rounded. On older trees, the leaves are generally 8-15 cm long, entire, cordate at the base and acuminate at the tip, and serrated on the margin. The [[fruit]] is insipid, unlike the much more intense flavour of the [[Red Mulberry]] and [[Black Mulberry]]. The fruit varies from white to pink in colour in many cultivated plants, but the natural fruit colour of the species in the wild is deep purple.
The White Mulberry is scientifically notable for its [[rapid plant movement]]. The flowers fire pollen into the air by rapidly (25 μs) releasing stored elastic energy in the stamen. The resulting movement is in excess of half the speed of sound, making it the fastest movement in the plant kingdom.
===Cultivation and uses===
The leaves are the preferred feedstock for [[silkworm]]s, and are also cut for food for livestock ([[cattle]], [[goat]]s, etc.) in areas where dry seasons restrict the availability of ground vegetation.
White Mulberry is extensively planted throughout the warm temperate [[Northern Hemisphere]], and is [[naturalisation (biology)|naturalised]] in urban areas of the [[United States]], where it [[hybrid]]ises to some extent with the U.S. native [[Red Mulberry]] (''Morus rubra''). In fact, some authorities worry about the long-term genetic viability of Red Mulberry because of extensive hybridization in some areas. The white mulberry is widely dispersed by birds, which eat the fruit and excrete the seeds, and is considered an [[invasive plant]] in parts of North America.[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MOAL] The white mulberry is also grown ornamentally in Afghanistan and for its berries, which are often eaten dried.
A weeping [[cultivar]] of White Mulberry ''Morus alba'' 'Pendula' is a popular [[ornamental plant]]. Weeping plants are propagated by [[grafting]] the weeping cultivar onto a non weeping [[rootstock]].
==Ethnomedical Uses==
In [[Traditional Chinese Medicine]], ''Morus Alba'' fruit is used to treat prematurely grey hair, to "tonify" the blood, treat [[constipation]], and [[diabetes]].
The bark is used to treat cough, wheezing, [[edema]], and to promote [[urination]].
It is also used to treat fever, headache, red dry and sore eyes, as well as cough.
==External links==
* [http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0934-0882&volume=19&issue=1&spage=19 High-speed pollen release in the white mulberry tree, Morus alba L]
[[Category:Moraceae|Mulberry, White]]
[[Category:Flora of Armenia|Mulberry, White]]
