Piper Park, adjacent to ball field

White mulberry is a deciduous tree native to China. It’s the silkworm mulberry. Male and female flowers are formed on separate trees and the tree is commonly called “fruitless” because the male flowering tree is the the one most commonly seen. It is a species that tolerates pollarding and because of that type of pruning practice, or a semi-pollarding such as seen on those in Piper Park, it is rare to see one that is allowed to reach its maximum potential height and width. Large surface roots can be problematic if the trees are planted near infrastructure elements.

Blossoms appear in advance of the leaves in the spring. Squirrels enjoy munching on them!

After pruning, branches can grow up to 4 ft. in one season.