Mulberry species identification

Morus nigra, bush form UK origin

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Morus nigra, German origin, originally bush form, trying to change it to a tree form. Hasnt change much in size since I bought it 2 years ago

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Morus nigra, UK origin, tree form in 5L container, in 2 years also hasnt grew much

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Awesome pictures carld. Where did you get your morus nigra with german origin from?

German ebay user :slight_smile: he sells lots of mulberries/albas/rubras/nigras/macroura,etc. If u want ill send you his ID later

I’d really appreciate that since most sources here sell simple alba seedlings as nigra. That way I already own 3 alba seedlings…

Carot is ID on ebay is helmut_scholl http://www.scholl-der-gaertner.de

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It’s been a number of years since I had the discussion. At the time I did not have a nigra (mine is potted and has grown very little since buying it, but the fruit are great but sparse… It was not from Oikos)

We discussed different leaf shapes, textures and veins. I don’t recall the exact discussion, but I do recall him saying he had tried grafting other nigra varieties to it and that the grafts did not survive, though the tree itself does.

Give him a call, as I recall Ken was a chatty person and happy to discuss his plants.

Scott

Some end of summer pictures from my clearlynotablackbeautyfromWillis:

No noticeable trich feeling to the top of the leaves, moderate bushy growth in a wet feet drainage situation, and leaves are both rounded and fig like. I have been debating whether to try to graft it next year or let it see what it does. I have two wild mulberries growing on the other side of the yard, probably planted from fruit from some kind of white fruited mulberry down the street, which I have not been able to taste. Both of those have fig like leaves only.

Nice pomegranates though.

Thanks, they are my first and oldest fruit trees and are essentially decorative. At least, I hope that the Angel Red Pom tastes a lot better once it gets going. These were just labeled “dwarf pomegranate” with a fruit described accurately on the label as “considered edible”. They are located by the fence nearest my living room window, and make lovely bird feeders closer to Christmas. The cardinals are particularly charming eating them once they split.

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I grow a few mulberries but not black beauty or any other nigras. Your pomegranate looks happy in your zone 7 garden. Everyone of my pomegranates split after the heavy rains we got from Hermine. This is the pomegranates I grow, some experience die back here in zone 7b, but most tend to do ok here. Some are new so might not make it to next year if we get a bad winter this year but I have so many plants growing outside of the recommended zone there is no way to protect them all and only the strong survive in my garden.
Afganski
Agat
Al Sirin Nar
Apseronski
Ariana
Ambrerosia
Andalib
Azadi
Bale Gal
Balkan
Blaze
Cana
Carb
Crab
Dashistan
Desertnyi
Doth Legfelle
Elf
EVE
Eversweet
Fleichman
Gissarskii Alyi
Gissaiskii Rozovyi
Girkanets
Gold
Golden Globe
Green Globe
Haku-Botan
How sweet it is
Hotuni Zigar
Kaim-Anor
Kandahari seedling
Kara- Kalinski
Kara Gul
Kazake
Kemine
Kemino
Khranniy
Kopetdag
Kunduzki
Kzy Bibi
Loffani
Lou Lou
Lyubimyi
Mae
Mahall Dezful
Molla-Nepes
Myatadzhy
Nisa
Nusai
Orange
Ovadan
Palermo
Paryanka
Parfyanka
Phoenicia
Podarok
Pink Lebanon
Purple Heart
Red Silk
Rosamia
Russian #1
Russian #2
Russian #3
Saariziki
Saartuzki
Sakerdze
Salavatski
Seidi
Sirenevyi
Shainaskii
Shirin Zigar
Sogdiana
Sour
Sumbar
Sumbarskii
Turan
Vina
Vishnevyi

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I really through I remembered a way to reply into a new thread but for the life of me I can’t find it now. That’s a heck of a list of poms! Do you graft them? I see it ought to be possible but with the thin barks and sharp brittle young growth on my trees, it looks difficult. I’d love to top mine with a better variety because the roots are so well established and push so much growth each year.

I’ll (back on topic) probably end up topping all my mulberries first.

I root dormant pomegranate cuttings in spring, never grafted them though. I’ve grafted and rooted mulberry cuttings but the only one that readily roots from cuttings for me is shangri la. I have gotten a few others to root but shangri la is the easiest and it accepts grafts very easily so it makes great rootstock.

Good day, I recently purchased a mulberry from a local hardware store that was simply labeled “Dwarf Mulberry”; any idea what it might be based on leaf shape, growth habit etc?

Additionally I also purchased another mulberry a couple weeks before this one, I can’t recall what it was labeled but there was no indication of a specific variety. It’s hard to tell from the photo as it was taken above but this one is leaning almost to the ground and growing in a somewhat haphazard fashion; can I prune it back to where it initially branches and stake it or would that shock the tree? Photo below:

Thanks in advance.

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really difficult to identify mulberries that are not nigra’s. It is likely an alba, but hard to say what cultivar. Most important thing really is to determine the quality of the berries.

as for the tilted/haphazard growth of the other mulberry, i would rather not prune it back. All it really needs is full sun, and subsequent growth next spring should be more sturdy.
potted mulberries grown in crowded nurseries tend to have soft, leggy growth, but will later have stiff stems once planted out in the open/full sun. Pruning it back now wouldn’t be good, since the specimen is already starving for sunlight. Letting it get as much sunlight now would help boost its food storage for winter.

if still inclined to prune, would be best to wait until it finally drops its leaves for winter.

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Has anyone been able to successfully root native Morus rubra cuttings?

It’s hard to find authentic specimens to purchase, so I’ve tried rooting some cuttings from ones I found in the wild. However, they’ve all failed thus far… :frowning:


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I have a couple of small M. rubra trees in the ground from air layers.

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Sadly I don’t think there are any black mulberries in my country. I have never seen a nigra in any garden or nursery here. Any nursery that claims to have nigra are clearly not. All of the places selling them online here have pictures of alba and/or descriptions of alba.

What makes things worse is that many of the gardening shows and magazines and permaculture groups here claim that black mulberry (Morus nigra) are the most commonly grown mulberry in Australia.

Given I likely won’t ever eat a nigra I have to ask, am I missing out on much? Are they much better than a really good alba?

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They are very tasty. Very sweet/tart with high flavor. But to me they are kind of a grazing fruit. Eat a few at a time. They are a royal mess just eating a few. You’d look like a chainsaw massacre if you tried to pick a gallon of these things. The fruit is hidden and hard to tell when they are fully ripe. This is the ultimate thin skinned fruit. Just barely touch them and they bleed all over your fingers. So if you want to get full or pick enough for everyone other berries are much easier.

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