Paper Mulberry

 

As seen at a Farm in Red Springs NC, note the variable shapes of the leaves.

Like a lot of things in the Moraceae family Paper Mulberry can throw a lot of leaf ID curveballs.

Common Name: Paper Mulberry

 

Other Common Names: Tapa Cloth Tree,

 

Botanical Family: Moraceae (The Mulberry/Fig Family)

 

Botanical Latin Name: Broussonetia papyrifera

 

Description & Habitat:  Paper Mulberry is a non-native tree native to Asia. Its native range includes China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, India, Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Paper Mulberry is considered an ornamental shade tree and it is commonly found as an invasive in open habitats such as forests and the edges of fields. In the wild it can be found as a large shrub or as a small tree with heights of over thirty feet. Its leaves are its most unidentifiable feature, though smaller leaves are simple and ovate in shape with pointed tips and serrated margins. The leaves of larger more mature specimens look more like what you’d expect from a Mulberry, they can be heart shaped or mitten shaped with the potential for deep lobes and two or three lobes near the base of the leaf. This plant does exude a milky sap if injured. It is aggressive and is considered an invasive in at least the State of Florida, which means it is a invasive threat in North Carolina most likely. I can easily spread and form thickets and or colonies in waste areas fields, forest margins or by the road side. This plant was introduced in the United States by at least 1903, someone didn’t do their proper research and did not know this plant can asexually clone itself by underground runners much like Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) can. The current scientific name comes from Pierre Maria August Broussonet (1761-1807) who was a professor of Botany at Montpelier, France. Also it should be noted that Paper Mulberry is still listed in some publications as Morus papyrifera.

 

When & What to Harvest: This tree eventually will produce fruit, but the problem with it is that it requires a certain amount of chilling hours that are unlikely to happen in Zone 8b. So that leaves the vegetable value. The young leaves can be eaten if steamed or boiled, the bark can be used to make paper or cloth called tapa, and if you can get fruit fromt his tree it is very high in calcium and magnesium.

 

Poisonous Lookalikes: None that I know of.

 

Related Edible Species: Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera).

 

Recipe: As far as I can tell there are no normal recipes for this just notes on how you can cook it. Here is some info on how you make fiber out of it:

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijms/2016/1498967/

 

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but my booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog.  In addition to being able to process card payments we now take CashApp payments so your payment options for my product have tripled. With that said; if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic fruit, herbs, flowers and perennials, come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

 

 

 

Wild Harvest Tour – May News II

 

Here we all are, and this Saturday is the fourth Saturday of the month and you know that that means. It is finally time for the Wild Harvest Tour and, just in case you missed the announcements for it, the Wild Harvest Tour is a guided tour that introduces participants to the various plants and fungi that are useful to you in either a food, medicinal or herbal sense. We will show you what is out there, how to use it, as well as a bit of woodland hiking safety. The tour is led by two mycologists (Eric & Jesse of Sandhills Mushroom farm) and a plant expert (me) and we’ve added on an extra hour so it will last about three hours. It runs from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The per-person entry fee is $40.00 and, the address is 3447 Marks Road, Cameron North Carolina 28326. We suggest arriving a bit before 9am if possible and to follow the basic safety protocol for woodland hiking which can be found at the link below.

 

https://americanhiking.org/resources/ticks/

 

You can see photos of the tour on our Facebook page at the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/people/Sandhills-Wild-Harvest/61557940700225/?sk=photos

 

 

 

How to stay in Contact with Us!

Our group’s online presence has migrated to Nextdoor.com. All you need to keep up with all our activities is to have a Nextdoor account and to look for the ‘Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville’ group and ask to join! You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to join us! Feel free to ask all your garden questions of our knowledgeable membership and post your cool garden pictures.

 

Sustainable Neighbors of Fayetteville

 

Also please take a gander at the YouTube version of this blog:

The Videos: Look Here

>Newest videos (1): Cardinal Basil

 

Meetings are still going on! Our next (unofficial) meeting is May 25^th at the Fayetteville City Market at 325 Franklin Street between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm.