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Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)

Paper mulberry Synonyms: Morus papyrifera, Papyrius papyriferus

Common Names: Wauke

Description: Introduced as an ornamental shade tree.

Habit: Medium, fast growing, rounded deciduous tree that can reach heights of 50 feet.

Leaves: Some distinctly lobed others unlobed, Alternate or subopposite, ovate, acuminate, dentate-crenate, bases often oblique, 3-8 inches long, rough above with a velvety surface below.

Stems: Stout, grey-brown in color, spreading, brittle, with stipular scars, shoots pubescent when young. Bark is light grey, smooth with shallow fissures or ridges. Contains a milky sap.

Flowers: Dioecious; male flowers are elongated, 1-2.5 inches long occuring in groups. Female flowers are round, 0.5 inches in diameter; both pale to dull green in color.

Fruit and seeds: Round, 3/4 inch in diameter.

Habitat: Native to Japan and Taiwan. Can be found in forests, field edges and disturbed sites.

Reproduction: By seed or vegetatively by stem cuttings, coppice and root suckers.

Similar species: white mulberry (Morus alba), red mulberry (Morus rubra), Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera)

Monitoring and rapid response: Hand pulling, hand picking, cutting and other manual control efforts are not enough to completely manage this tree due to its ability to reprout. No biological control has been found.

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from CABI: Invasive Species Compendium and Virginia Tech Dendrology.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).


Common Name:

Paper mulberry

Scientific Name:

Broussonetia papyrifera

Family:

Moraceae
(Mulberry)

Duration:

Perennial

Habit:

Trees

USDA Symbol:

BRPA4