Mulberries

Mulberries
	Illustration of the black mulberry ( Morus nigra )
Systematics
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
	Rosids
	Eurosiden I
Order :	Rose-like (rosales)
Family :	Mulberry family (Moraceae)
Genre :	Mulberries
Scientific name
	More
	L.

Black mulberry with leaves and unripe fruits

The mulberries or mulberry trees ( Morus ) are like the figs ( Ficus ) a genus of plants in the family of the mulberry family (Moraceae).

distribution

With twelve species, the genus was originally distributed over the temperate and subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere with the exception of Europe . Mulberries, however, were already widespread in all warmer regions of Europe during the Roman era, which are climatically suitable for viticulture.

The three most famous species in Europe are the white mulberry and black mulberry , both from Asia , and the red mulberry from North America .

White mulberries often only grow shrub-like in Germany. Above all, suitable locations should be warm and protected from the wind. Loose, fresh, deep, nutrient-rich and lime-rich soils are favorable.

description

Old mulberry tree

Millennial mulberry tree in the park of the Benedictine abbey Brauweiler (2011)

Mulberries are deciduous trees or shrubs that reach heights of 6 to 15 meters. They have a white milky juice and a gray-brown rind. The shape of the leaves can vary considerably on the same tree. The simple, mostly toothed leaves are alternate and undivided to lobed or split. The nerve is three to five-fold. Stipules are always present, but can fall off prematurely.

Morus species are monoecious ( monoecious ) or dioecious ( dioecious ) separate sexes. The many-flowered, mostly axillary inflorescences are spiky or they are catkins and heads . The flowers are four-fold with a double flower envelope . Male flowers contain up to four stamens and a pestle can be present. The mostly unicameral ovary is usually above and with a two-branched style, or with two styles . Most of the female flowers do not have staminodes.

The fruits are fruit associations ( false fruits ) from achenes (stone fruits) in a fleshy calyx and flower base .

use

Park tree

In parks and gardens in German-speaking countries, ornamental forms of the white mulberry are usually planted, as it is more hardy than the black mulberry , the strongly coloring fruits of which are also undesirable near traffic areas. The red mulberry is still practically unknown there, although it is considered the most frost-hardy species.

leaves

21 day old silkworm caterpillars on mulberry leaves

Silkworm caterpillar on a mulberry tree, next to it fruits in different degrees of ripeness

The green leaves of the white mulberry are used to breed the silk moth and were the main reason for introducing mulberry trees to Europe. Whole landscapes - mainly in southern Europe - were shaped by the mulberry trees, silkworm breeding and silk production. In Prussia , too , white mulberries were planted on avenues, on marketplaces and schoolyards for this reason. Cheap silk imports from Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 20th century made European silk farming, and thus also the European mulberry trees, superfluous and pushed them off the avenues where they were often to be found.

The leaves are also used as a tea infusion to treat bladder and urinary tract infections.

Wood

The wood of the white mulberry is valued as hard, durable and easy to polish. It is used in the Mediterranean region for the production of schnapps and wine barrels and in Asian countries (especially in Turkey and the Persian-speaking area) for the production of high-quality musical instruments ( plucked instruments ) such as saz , baglama or cura .

Bast fibers

In the Southeast Asian region ( Thailand , Laos , Burma ) the bark is processed into hand-made paper. This mulberry paper is used there as a material for handmade paper, photo albums, boxes and paper flowers. The bast fibers of the paper mulberry tree, which belongs to the same plant family, are known as Kōzo (楮) and are used in the manufacture of Japanese paper ( Kozogami ) in China and Japan .

fruit

The fruits of the three types mentioned are edible. The shape is reminiscent of elongated blackberries , the color ranges from cream (white mulberry) to red to black. However, the species cannot be determined by the fruit color, as there are also white mulberries with dark fruits, as well as black mulberries with white and light fruits. Mulberry fruits are very sweet and juicy, with the white mulberry being sometimes considered bland, while the red and black mulberries are more intense in taste and more aromatic. The fruits ripen on the tree at different speeds over the course of several weeks and therefore cannot be harvested at the same time. In some countries, sheets or foils are placed under the trees; when shaken, only the ripe mulberries fall off. Fresh mulberries are of practically no importance as market fruit, as they are too soft and juicy to transport and spoil too quickly.

Dried mulberries are also becoming more popular in Germany - their taste is similar to that of very sweet raisins , but leaves no aftertaste. The mulberries lose their color when they dry and look sandy to transparent, become very firm and have a rough outer shell.

Mulberry juice can now also be purchased in specialist shops without any problems. The juice has a creamy consistency, a fawn color and tastes similar to blackberry juice without acid with a light rose aroma .

Systematics

The genus includes about 10 to 15 species. Here is a list of species:

White mulberry ( Morus alba L. , Syn. : Morus alba f. Tatarica Ser. , Morus alba var. Constantinopolitana Loudon , Morus alba var. Multicaulis (Perr) Loudon. , Morus atropurpurea Roxb. , Morus indica L. and Morus multicaulis Perr . )
Morus australis Poir. (Syn .: Morus acidosa Griff. , Morus bombycis Koidz. ): It occurs in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and on Sakhalin .
Morus cathayana Hemsley : It occurs in China, Japan and Korea.
Morus celtidifolia Kunth : It occurs in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.
More kagayamae Koidz. : It occurs in Japan.
Morus liboensis S.S.Chang
Morus macroura Miq. (Syn .: Morus laevigata Wall. Ex Brandis ): It occurs in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and in the Chinese provinces of Xizang and Yunnan .
Morus mesozygia Stapf : It occurs in tropical and southern Africa.
Morus mongolica (Bureau) CC cutting. (Syn .: Morus alba var. Mongolica Bureau ): It occurs in China and Korea.
Black Mulberry ( Morus nigra L. )
Morus notabilis C.K. Schneider : It occurs in Sichuan and Yunnan .
Red Mulberry ( Morus rubra L. ): Found in eastern Canada and the United States.
More serrata Roxb. : It occurs in Pakistan, India, Nepal and in Xizang .
Morus trilobata (SSChang) ZYCao

The following described species are currently assigned to other genera:

More calva H.Léveillé : Is now Coriaria sinica Maximowicz
Morus mairei H.Léveillé : Is now Acalypha mairei (H.Léveillé) tailor
More excelsa Welw. : Is now Milicia excelsa (Welw.) CCBerg
Morus papyrifera L .: is now Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) Vent. ; see paper mulberry tree
More tinctoria : Is now Maclura tinctoria (L.) D.Don ex Steud. ; see sycamore tree

Others

Tacuinum sanitatis . 14th century. Further historical images:

Mulberry trees are mentioned once in Ovid's Metamorphoses : In Pyramus and Thisbe it is told that the color of the mulberries was originally white and that the blood that Pyramus shed drew into the roots of the tree and turned the mulberries purple. The mulberry tree is mentioned eight times in the Bible , mostly referring to the mulberry fig . The mulberry juice was medically recommended in Europe for the prevention and treatment of poisoning and inflammation, but especially against sore throats.

Sources (selection)

Antiquity	Arab Middle Ages	Latin Middle Ages	Modern times
Pedanios Dioscurides , 1st century	Avicenna , 10.-11. Century	Hildegard von Bingen , 12th century	Otto Brunfels , Strasbourg 1537
Pliny the Elder , 1st century	Circa instans , 12th century	Konrad von Megenberg , 14th century	Leonhart Fuchs , Basel 1543
Galen , 2nd century	Pseudo-Serapion , 13th century	Herbarius Moguntinus , Mainz 1484	Hieronymus Bock , Strasbourg 1546
		Gart der Gesundheit , Mainz 1485	Encyclopedic Dictionary 1840
		Hortus sanitatis , Mainz 1491	Jonathan Pereira / Rudolf Buchheim 1848
		Hieronymus Brunschwig , Strasbourg 1500

In China, in the legendary Shennong ben cao jing, preparations made from components of the mulberry tree (sāng 桑) were recommended for the treatment of inflammation but also for general strengthening. To this day, the use of the leaves (against coughing, dizziness and eye reddening), the bark (against bronchial asthma and against water retention), the small branches (against pain in the shoulder joint) and the fruits (against "xue void" exhaustion) is recommended .

The shape of the mulberry is often referred to in medicine. This is how the appearance of gallstones is compared to that of mulberries. The fertilized egg cell is also called a morula or mulberry germ in the 32-cell stage, i.e. after fertilization by the sperm and before implantation in the uterine lining .

Erkner coat of arms

Black mulberries are also used to make syrup for soft drinks.

The millennial mulberry tree has stood in the Benedictine abbey of Brauweiler since 1024 , at the foot of which legend has it that the daughter of Emperor Otto II , Mathilde , decided to found the monastery. In the historical Schildau cemetery that surrounds the Church of St. Marien and was in use until 1913, there is a mulberry tree that is known to have been planted in 1518.

In heraldry , too , the mulberry tree with the fruits made it into the heraldic shield as a heraldic figure . An example is the coat of arms of Erkner with the description : "In the blue shield a golden diagonal bar covered by a black rooted mulberry tree with green leaves and two silver mulberries."

Individual evidence

↑ Information from science / from LWF-aktuell No. 20 of the Bavarian State Institute for Forest and Forest Science, 1999, p. 27f

↑ ^a ^b Description and listing of the species occurring in China in Flora of China (Engl.)

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k More in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved May 3, 2017.

^ Translation of the text by Franz Unterkircher. Tacuinum sanitatis … Graz 2004, p. 50: Mulberries: Complexion: cold and dry in the 2nd degree. Big black ones are preferable. Benefit: for ulcers of the throat. Harm: they cause stomach pain and quickly turn into bad food. Preventing the harm: with mild medication. What they create: unclean blood. Particularly beneficial for sanguine people, adolescents, in spring and in southern and warm areas.

↑ Herbarius moguntinus 1484: ( picture link )

↑ Gart der Gesundheit 1485: ( picture link )

↑ Hortus sanitatis 1491: ( picture link )

↑ Leonhart Fuchs 1543: ( picture link )

↑ Hieronymus Bock 1546. Representation of the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe: ( picture link )

↑ Fritz Rienecker et al. Gerhard Maier: Lexicon to the Bible . Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1998, Lemma mulberry tree, sycamore fig .

↑ Pedanios Dioscurides , 1st century. De Medicinali Materia libri quinque. Julius Berendes . Pedanius Dioscurides' medicine theory in 5 books. Enke, Stuttgart 1902, Book I, Chapter 180 (digitized version)

↑ Avicenna 10-11 . Century Canon of Medicine Volume II. Revision by Andrea Alpago (1450–1521). Venice 1555, p. 272 (Chapter 493) (digitized version)

↑ Hildegard von Bingen , 12th century Physica, III / 9th edition. Charles Victor Daremberg and Friedrich Anton Reuss (1810–1868). S. Hildegardis Abbatissae Subtilitatum Diversarum Naturarum Creaturarum Libri Novem. Migne, Paris 1855. Sp. 1225 after the Paris manuscript. Liber beate Hildegardis subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum et sic de aliis quam multis bonis. Paris. Bibliothèque Nationale. Codex 6952 f. 156-232. Complete handwriting. 15th century (1425–1450) (digitized)

↑ Otto Brunfels . Herbal Book. Other part ... 1537, p. 154 (digitized version)

↑ Pliny the Elder , 1st century. Naturalis historia Book XXIII, § 134 140 (Chapter LXX-LXXI) (digitized Latin) ( digitized from the Külb edition 1840–1864 German)

↑ Circa instans , 12th century, printed Venice 1497, sheet 204r (Chapter XXIII): Mora domestica (digitized version )

↑ Konrad von Megenberg , 14th century. Main source: Thomas von Cantimpré , Liber de natura rerum . Output. Franz Pfeiffer . Konrad von Megenberg. Book of nature. Aue, Stuttgart 1861, p. 330 (digitized version)
↑ Leonhart Fuchs . Herb book , Basel 1543, chapter 198 (digitized version)
^ Galen , 2nd century. De alimentorum facultatibus , lib. II, cap. XI (Kühn edition 1823, Vol. VI, p. 584): De sycaminis, quae mora appellant (digitized version ) ; De simplicium medicamentorum temperamentis ac facultatibus , lib. VII, cap. XII / 23 (Kühn edition 1826, vol. XII, p. 78): More (digitized)

^ Pseudo-Serapion , 13th century, print. Venice 1497, sheet 116r-v (chapter CXXXII) (digitized version )

↑ Herbarius Moguntinus , Mainz 1484, Chapter 92 (digitized version)

↑ Hieronymus Bock . Herbal Book , Strasbourg 1546, Part III, Chapter 46 (digitized version)

↑ Gart der Gesundheit , Mainz 1485, Chapter 259 (digitized version)

^ Encyclopedic Dictionary of Medicinal Sciences. Published by the professors of the Medical Faculty of Berlin: Dietrich Wilhelm Heinrich Busch , Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach , Carl Ferdinand von Graefe , Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker (1795–1850), Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland , Ernst Horn , Johann Christian Jüngken , Heinrich Friedrich Link , Joseph Müller (1811–1845), Emil Osann , Karl Asmund Rudolphi , Elias von Siebold Volume 24, 1840, pp. 142–43 (digitized version )

↑ Hortus sanitatis , Mainz 1491, Cap. 299 (digitized version)

↑ Jonathan Pereira’s Handbook of Medicines Doctrine. From the point of view of the German Medicin edited by Rudolf Buchheim . Leopold Voß, Leipzig 1846–1848, Volume II 1848, pp. 191–92 (digitized version )

↑ Hieronymus Brunschwig . Small distilling book , Strasbourg 1500, sheet 79v (digitized version )

↑ Li Shizhen . Bencao Gangmu , Book 36 (Annotated Reprint, PR China 1975, Volume III, p. 2063).

↑ Pharmacopoeia of the PR China 1985. Volume I, p. 264.

↑ George Arthur Stuart. Chinese Materia Medica. Vegetable Kindom. Shanghai 1911, pp. 266–268 (digitized version )

↑ entry to mulberry tree in Abbey Park Brauweiler (natural monument) in the database " KuLaDig " of the Regional Association of the Rhineland , accessed on February 15 2017th