Morus rubra, commonly known as the Red Mulberry, is a species of mulberry native to eastern North America, from Ontario and Vermont south to southern Florida and west to southeast South Dakota and central Texas. Although common in the United States, it is listed as an endangered species in Canada.
Red mulberry is fire intolerant. However, it colonizes post-fire sites when sufficient moisture is available.
Red mulberry seems to be vanishing from at least a portion of its central range, possibly due to a bacterial disease. The effects and extent of this disease have not been investigated thoroughly, but it is known that red mulberry trees are becoming increasingly scarce (2). The only noteworthy leaf pathogens of red mulberry reported in the United States are leaf spots caused by a species of Cercospora, Mycosphaerella mori, and Pseudomonas mori (4). Red mulberry also is susceptible to witches' broom, Microstroma juglandis, but the cause is unknown.
A variety of insects feed on red mulberry leaves, including the European fruit lecanium, Parthenolecanium corni; Comstock mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki; and cottony maple scale, Pulvinaria innumerabilis. The American plum borer, Euzophera semifuneralis, and the mulberry borer, Doraschema wildii, attack twigs and stems of red mulberry (5).
Red mulberry has been rated as moderately tolerant of flooding as it usually withstands being inundated with up to a foot of water for a single growing season. It normally succumbs, however, after being flooded for two growing seasons (1).
The highest use of red mulberry is for its large, sweet fruits. These are a favored food of most birds and a number of small mammals including opossum, raccoon, fox squirrels, and gray squirrels. The fruits also are used in jellies, jams, pies, and drinks. In the past, the fruits were valued for fattening hogs and as poultry food.
Red mulberry is used locally for fenceposts because the heartwood is relatively durable. Other uses of the wood include farm implements, cooperage, furniture, interior finish, and caskets (7).