Red Mulberry (Morus rubra)

Family: Moraceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Handsome native tree producing cylindrical dark purple-black berries that surpass cultivated blackberries in richness, sweetness, and complex fruit acids.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Berries, Shoots

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

Sweet, honeyed, rich, and juicy with a balanced tart blackberry finish. — Spread sheets beneath the branches and shake tree limbs to rain ripe berries down; Eaten fresh by the bowl with cream; Baked into traditional deep-dish wild mulberry pies and rustic tarts; Cooked down into thick syrups and jams

Habitat & North American Range

Rich moist river bottomlands, lower slopes, ravine banks, and shaded hardwood forests. (Zone 4, Zone 5, Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9)