I’m considering putting an M. macroura cultivar in the ground. I have a spot where it could grow to size and the neighbors wouldn’t mind the summer shade.
Go for it!!!
If you have access to a Cytology lab then the species of your Mulberries can be narrowed down a bit with a ploidy test:
M. notabilis: 2n=1x=14
M. alba, australis, rubra: 2n=2x=28
M. macroura: 2n=4x=56
M. nigra: 2n=22x=308
1 Like
ryan, are you testing maui and thai dwarf? mine is potted and they both died over the winter im in zone 8B.
1 Like
I now have all the data necessary to obtain genetic fingerprints of the fruiting mulberries in my repository. Below is a list of the cultivars here. If there are others you’d like to see added to the list, please advise where I can obtain a rooted specimen, commercially or otherwise. The only delivery options are in-person or shipped with nursery stock / phytosanitary certificate on exterior of parcel. I’d like to finalize the collection by 6/21.
Beautiful Day White Mulberry
Big White
Cold Hardy Sweet Black
Contorted Mulberry
Dwarf Black Mulberry
Dwarf Everbearing Mulberry
Early Bird
East Coast Foot Long
Giant Sweet Southern Black
Honeydrops
Illinois Everbearing Mulberry
Issai
Kokuso
“Long Mulberry Tree ““Pakistan”””
Northern Red Giant
Northern Sweet White Mulberry
Oscar’s
Pakistan Mulberry
Persian Black
Red Mulberry
Richard’s Buff Red Mulberry
River View Russian Mulberry
Seedling - std leaf
Seedling - cut leaf
Shangri La
Silk Hope
Sweet Lavender
Tehama
Wellington Black Mulberry
White Ivory Mulberry
2 Likes
Was just looking at Maui moments ago and looks like extensive dieback potentially complete.
Just got a thai dwarf to try out in container… but I have a Chiang Mai 60 and World’s Best in the ground in a somewhat wind protected area that both seem to have made it through winter. Will know for sure in coming weeks.
1 Like
Checked more closely. Maui died back to ground, along with Italian.
my smaller WB from you died the larger one i think is ok, but it is frost sensative compared to my other mulberry varieties. too bad maui and italian isnt as hardy as we hope for. the italian had minor die back in zone 8 b.
1 Like
Richard! What a great project. I signed up for this site to see how this project develops!
2 Likes
Hi Greg, welcome to the forum!
I’ve continued the discussion about my project in this thread:
1 Like
How would you rank your varieties for taste and productivity? or maybe your top 5?
Thanks
Scott,
How is your morus nigra doing in Zone 6? Any updates? and do you believe it truly is a nigra?
Thanks
I have noticed that Morus Alba Tatarica, also known as Russian Mulberry, is used as a rootstock in the nursery trade. It is described as tough and drought tolerant. I’m wondering how it compares particularly in terms of drought tolerance to other Morus Alba or Morus Alba x Rubra.
Anyone can chime on this question. @Mikatani and @Livinginawe perhaps you’ve looked at this before?
@SteadyStan
In plant taxonomy, “Russian Mulberry” is a common name for the species Morus alba. The mulberry “Tatarica” is a cultivar of Morus alba.
P.S.
When using latin binomials to name species, the first word (the Genus) is capitalized and what follows is always lowercase, e.g. Morus alba x rubra.
3 Likes
Morus alba tatarica is described as a separate species, subspecies or variety depending on the authority that you consult. But actually it would be much more acurate to say that it is a phenotype of Morus alba. A species that has adapted to certain climatic conditions. Morus alba, as a species, has a very wide distribution range. Morus alba is present in tropical, subtropical , warm temperate, cool temperate, cool to almost subarctic areas. The species is still Morus alba but it has adapted to specific climatic conditions. Morus alba “tatarica” is still just Morus alba in every aspect but it is much more hardy and less vigorous than the phenotypes that grow in warmer climatic zones. However, one aspect remains the same: even the very hardy Morus alba tatarica is prone to spring frost damage because it starts to leaf out as soon as the temperature rises. In its natural growing range in Asia this is not so much of a problem because when spring arrives temperatures rise very quickly and there is no more frost as opposed to the greater part of central and northern Europe and a large part (especially coastal areas) of eastern united States where spring temperatures can rise and then plummet again. Morus rubra (and hybrids) are different in that respect because they leaf out much later than Morus alba and as such do not often suffer from spring frost.
Unfortunately this late budding aspect is of no use when used as a rootstock. It does not influence the variety grafted onto it: it does not delay budding of the grafted variety. I tried both Morus nigra and Illinois Everbearing (rubra x alba) as a rootstock to force Morus macroura (“pakistan”) to leaf out later but it made no difference at all…
About drought tolerance: tatarica is no more drought tolerant than any other Morus alba…
4 Likes
Every species has some measure of drought tolerance in its native environment. For example, the native plants of Borneo can get by on 2 meters of annual rain instead of the usual 3.5.
A different question is whether a specimen will be water frugal in your environment.
I have a potted, verified morus nigra that I’ve had for years (12 or so) and it fruits well for me each year. By well I mean I get a couple dozen fruit.
The other one, the Okois Tree Crops nigra will go into the ground next spring, with my fingers crossed. Leaves seem to indicate it is a nigra, whether it proves hardy is anyone’s guess. I looked at it for years before buying it and I’m glad I did as Oikos closed last fall.
Ken Asmus seemed pretty sure of it being a nigra and claims it survives his zone 5 area.
Scott
3 Likes
Thank you! This is very helpful.
1 Like
Sorry for the delay rubus. I moved to a new property so setting up a new hobby orchard. Just on the edge 6a.
Currently trialing around 40 varieties of mulberry here.
At the last property I had complete dieback with Grover’s Best, Miss Kim, Tehama, Maui, and Italian.
Will know more in a year 
3 Likes