red mulberry

Also known as Virginia Mulberry

Red mulberry trees flourish in rich floodplain soils and moist eastern hardwood forests, recognized by their large, dull green leaves with rough, sandpaper-like upper surfaces. Birds and small mammals eagerly consume the dark compound fruits in early summer, dispersing seeds across river valleys and woodland gaps. Extensive hybridization with introduced white mulberry trees now poses a major genetic threat to native stands in northern parts of its range.