In October 2016, I bought four mulberry trees from whitmanfarms.com. Two Noir of Spain and two what they called “Sicilian Black”. I wanted to buy two Noir of Spain and two James II, but they had James II out of stock and told me they have “Sicilian Black” instead. I asked if it’s Morus nigra and they said yes. Long story short, Noir of Spain turned out to be true nigra and “Sicilian Black” turned out to be Morus alba. I will be grafting these albas over to nigra this spring. All four trees have been originally grafted on M. alba seedling rootstocks. With all four trees growing in the same location and under the same conditions, the difference in the rate of growth between alba and nigra is astounding. I think no other tree in my orchard ever grew as fast as these two albas.
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