We have two mulberry trees in our garden but I shall concentrate on one. The fact that the are two mulberry trees is an early indication that the mulberry tree readily seeds, saplings shoot and a new tree roots itself. Officially the mulberry belongs to the Moraceae family. It is a deciduous tree and the berries are classified as a fruit. The mulberry is not an indigenous tree in South Africa; there are many varieties of mulberry and the chief one is the white mulberry of China (which is what you are likely to find in Johannesburg Gardens). This is called the Morus Alba and although the berries purple, in unripened state the berries are white (hence Alba).
The trunk of the Mulberry Tree
My chosen mulberry tree sits in the opposite corner of our stand in Observatory Extension. By opposite I mean that it is a boundary marker. It's a large spreading tree, possibly (and I guess here) about 10 or 12 meters in height. At this time of the year, the season of the berry (the luscious purple fruit) is over and the large distinctive leaves are turning a lemony yellow.
The leaves are serrated. My online research (environment.gov.za) informs us that the mulberry is regarded as an invasive species and is classified as a weed in South Africa. It fits into category 3 on the list of "we really...
