Mulberry
Scientific Name: Morus
Family Name: Moraceae
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Among the various species of the genus Morus, the white mulberry (M. alba) and the black mulberry (M. nigra) are the most interesting. The former originated in the central and eastern parts of the mountains of China, where it is thought to have been cultivated for at least five thousand years for the rearing of the silkworm. The black mulberry appears to have originated either in the southern part of the Caucasus, or in the mountains of Nepal. They were both known to the Greco-Roman world, but only the black mulberry, have a better fruit, was spread and cultivated, while the other species, although having edible fruit but of a poorer quality, was used exclusively for silkworm culture. As a fruit tree the black mulberry is grown today in Iraq and Turkestan, where seedless varieties with large seedless fruits have been obtained. The berries have a pleasant flavor; their sugar content is 9% and they are generally eaten fresh. They can also be used, traditionally, to make a mildly astringent syrup, and the juice is sometimes used to color wines. [Bianchini, Francesco, Corbetta, Francesco, Pistoia, Marilena, The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables, United States Translation: Crown Publishers, New York, 1976; Originally published in Italy as I Frutti della Terra, Arnoldo Mondadori Publisher, Italy, 1973]