Survives zone 5 through 8
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
Morus cathayana, the Chinese or 'hua' mulberry, is an East Asian forest-margin tree distinguished by its broad, sometimes shallowly lobed leaves that are densely white- or yellowish-gray hairy beneath, bearing palatable berries that are eaten fresh or brewed into a leaf tea.
- Hardiness
- Zone 5–8
- Habit
- Tree
- Edible part
- Fruit
- Ripens
- June–Aug
- Mature size
- Tree 8–12 m; dwarf forms containerable
- Light
- Full sun to partial
- Soil pH
- 6.0–7.5 (lime-tolerant)
- Environment
- Temperate
- Native range
- East Asia — China, Japan, and Korea — on sunny mountain slopes and in valleys, typically at about 900–1300m elevation, within secondary forest and scrub.
- Status
- Wild
- Years to fruit
- 2–3 yrs
- Growth speed
- Not specifically documented for this species, though it is consistent with the genus's general reputation for fast growth once established.
- Spacing
- 750 cm (295 in) apart — about 56 m² (605 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Broadly ovate to nearly round leaves, 8–20cm long, sometimes shallowly lobed, with a coarsely to shallowly serrate (or basally entire) margin, a cordate to truncate base, a rough upper surface, and a densely white- or yellowish-gray hairy underside.
- Root system
- Brittle roots typical of the genus, needing careful handling when planting out; documented as a single-trunked tree or shrub rather than a spreader.
- Fruit description
- A rounded to short-cylindrical syncarp roughly 2.5cm across with a pleasant, palatable sweet flavor, eaten fresh or cooked.
- Propagation
- Grown from semi-ripe cuttings (7–10cm with a heel) in midsummer or hardwood cuttings (25–30cm) in autumn or early spring, as for the rest of the genus, or from seed after 2–3 months' cold stratification, or by autumn layering.
- Pollination
- Documented as monoecious, bearing both male and female flowers on the same tree, unlike the strictly dioecious pattern typical of most Morus species.
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Prefers a warm, well-drained loamy soil; a light annual feeding with compost or well-rotted manure in spring is sufficient, and it tolerates mildly acid through mildly alkaline soils.
How it spreads. A single-trunked forest-margin tree or shrub with no documented invasive or suckering behavior.
Growing tips. Hardy to roughly USDA zone 5, making it one of the more cold-tolerant Asian mulberries covered here, consistent with its native range on mountain slopes up to 1300m in China, Japan, and Korea. As with the rest of the genus, prune only in winter dormancy to avoid heavy bleeding; it shows good resistance to honey fungus and has no significant documented role in commercial sericulture.
Grow journal
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