Morus microphylla Buckley

Texas mulberry (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Moraceae > Morus

Characteristics

Shrubs or trees , to 7.5 m. Bark gray, fissured, scaly. Branchlets greenish, pubescent; lenticels light colored, elliptic, prominent. Buds ovoid, slightly compressed, 3-4 mm, apex acute; outer scales dark brown, pubescent and minutely ciliate; leaf scars half round to irregularly circular, bundle scars numerous, in circle. Leaves: stipules linear-lanceolate, 3-5 mm, papery, pubescent; petiole 0.3-0.6(-1.5) cm, pubescent. Leaf blade ovate, sometimes 3-5-lobed, 2-7(-9) × 1-4(-7) cm, base rounded to nearly cordate, margins serrate or crenate-serrate, apex acute to acuminate; surfaces abaxially harshly scabrous or pubescent, somewhat paler than adaxial surface, adaxially harshly scabrous. Catkins: staminate, 1-2 cm; pistillate, 8-12 × 5-7 mm, peduncle 3-7 mm, pubescent. Flowers: staminate and pistillate on different plants. Staminate flowers: calyx lobes green to reddish, rounded, hairy; stamens 4; filiments filiform. Pistillate flowers: ovary dark green, broadly ovoid, slightly compressed, 1.5-2 × 1 mm, glabrous; style branches divergent, whitish, sessile, ca. 1.5 mm; stigma papillate. Syncarps red, purple, or black, short-cylindric, 1-1.5 cm; achenes yellowish, oval, flattened, ca. 2 mm, smooth.
More
A shrub or small tree. It grows 6 m high. The trunk is 20 cm across. The leaves are small and glossy green. They are in 2 rows and are 2.5-6 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. The leaves usually have 2-5 lobes. The leaves have coarse teeth. They are dark green above and paler and softly hairy underneath. The flowers are very small and green. They are crowded in small clusters 10-19 mm long. Male and female flowers are on separate trees. The fruit is a rounded berry. It is 12 mm long. It is dark purple when ripe. The fruit are sweet and edible.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.2
Mature height (meter) 6.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It grows in moist soils, usually along streams. In the southern USA it grows between 300-1800 m altitude. It suits hardiness zones 9-11.
More
In canyons on dry limestone hills and igneous slopes, usually along streams; at elevations from 200-2,200 metres.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-9

Usage

The fruit are eaten fresh and also pressed into pulpy cakes and dried and stored.
Uses fiber food material medicinal wood
Edible fruits
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings. Seeds needs stratification.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 14 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
Germination luminosity light
Germination treatment stratification
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Morus microphylla world distribution map, present in Mexico and United States of America

Conservation status

Morus microphylla threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:854680-1
WFO ID wfo-0001084722
COL ID 44FT3
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Morus microphylla Morus radulina Morus confinis Morus grisea