Morus serrata - Himalayan Mulberry

Himalayan Mulberry is a large deciduous tree, up to 20 m tall. Stem can be upto 2-3 m in circumference, with reddish or grey-brown, scaly bark on old trunk and smooth on younger branches, tender shoots velvet-hairy. Leaves are carried on a velvet-hairy, 2-5 cm long leaf-stalk. Leaf-blade is ovate to broadly ovate, 5-15 cm long, 3-10 cm broad 3(-5)-nerved from the heart-shaped base, usually 3-lobed, margins coarsely toothed bisawtoothed, tip or apices of lobes tapering-with a tail, veins hairy beneath; stipules linear-lanceshaped, 1.5-2.5 cm long, membranous. Male and female catkins occur on different trees. Male catkins are 2.5-5 cm long hairy. Male flowers: sepals elliptic-oblong, about 1.5 mm long, blunt, hairy stamens with basally flattened filaments. Female catkins are cylindric, much shorter than male, 0.5-1.5 cm long, excluding 3.6 mm long, vinous flower-cluster-stalk. The compound fruit is fleshy, purple or reddish-purple, 0.8-2.5 cm long, sweet, edible. The tree is frequently cultivated for shade near temples or houses. It is lopped for fodder. The leaves are used for feeding silkworms. The hard tough timber is used for furniture and carving, toys, troughs and agricultural implements. Himalayan Mulberry is found in the Himalayas, from Kashmir to Himachal Pradesh to Nepal, at altitudes of 1200-2700 m. Flowering: March-May.