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§1 Plant

Morus rubra L.

vernacular red mulberry — species · Moraceae

USDA
MORU2
GBIF
5361886
Rank
species
red mulberry (Morus rubra)
Platephotograph · kwillardCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Moraceae Gaudich.
Genus
Morus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,408 counties across 32 states/territories
Legend Native · 1408 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
140 min.
Precipitation
35–60 in/yr
pH range
5–7
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
70 ft
Height @ 20 y
45 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Purple
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
344,667
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
Low
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,408 counties across 32 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 75 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 42 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 91 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 70 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 61 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 120 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 59 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 114 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 17 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 30 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 63 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 87 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 33 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 61 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 90 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 41 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 7 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MORU2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5361886 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z