Morus alba x rubra 'Illinois Everbearing'
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- MOR-russ
- Description
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'Illinois Everbearing' mulberry has both edible and ornamental features. The bark is gray-brown with long, scaly ridges. This tree produces a 1 to 1.25 inch long cluster of drupes that matures in the summer. The fruit resembles a blackberry.
'Illinois Everbearing' is a winter hardy cultivar, enduring temperatures does to to -20F. It bears early fruit, sometimes as soon as the first year after planting, and becomes a large shade tree very quickly, often growing 3 to 5 feet per year in favorable conditions.
The fruit has a delicious and distinctive sweet taste, starts to ripen a later than some other cultivars, but ripens continuously throughout the summer and early autumn.
It can live up to 125 years, but the weedy invasive character is not appealing.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Morus
- Family:
- Moraceae
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Stem Cutting
- Wildlife Value:
- This plant is moderately resistant to damage from deer. It is a possible host plant for the Red Admiral butterfly. Its fruits are eaten by many birds, especially gray catbirds and northern mockingbirds, foxes, opossums, raccoons, and squirrels.
- Edibility:
- Jams. jellies and wine from ripe berries
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Edible
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Erect
- Oval
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Rapid
- Maintenance:
- High
- Texture:
- Medium
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Available Space To Plant:
- 24-60 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Black
- Red/Burgundy
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Edible
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Summer
- Fruit Type:
- Berry
- Fruit Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Fruit Description:
- It produces numerous reddish-black fruit that look like a blackberry but slender with a size of 1 1/4 inches. It will bear fruit through summer into fall.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Green
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Catkin
- Insignificant
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Flower Description:
- The small yellowish-green cylindrical flower of the Illinois Everbearing red mulberry is not showy. Male flower and female flower can bloom on the same tree or different trees.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Serrate
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Description:
- Has alternate, broad, simple green leaves with a notch at the base and a finely serrated margin. The upper surface is rough, the undersurface is full of soft hair.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Dark Brown
- Surface/Attachment:
- Ridges
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Coastal
- Naturalized Area
- Landscape Theme:
- Edible Garden
- Design Feature:
- Flowering Tree
- Shade Tree
- Attracts:
- Butterflies
- Songbirds
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Drought
- Salt
- Problems:
- Messy
- Weedy
