Scientific Name
Morus alba v. tatarica ‘Tatarian White Mulberry’
The Tatarian, sometimes spelled Tartarian, variety of white mulberry is a tough and potentially weedy tree selected for its greater cold hardiness. It was sometimes planted for windbreaks and erosion control throughout the Great Plains states. The tree tolerates poor, compacted soils and becomes drought tolerant once established. It can also withstand winter temperatures down to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Like the straight species of white mulberry, this tree has saw-toothed leaves that may be unlobed, singly lobed or doubly lobed. Some trees are entirely male or female, while others may produce both male and bisexual flowers. Only completely male trees fail to produce fruit. The blackberry-like fruits begin white or pink before ripening to a dark purple. When they fall, they can stain paved surfaces beneath the tree. Birds readily eat the fruit and disperse the seeds through their droppings, greatly increasing the tree’s invasive potential.
In Colorado, the dry climate often limits the spread of species that become highly invasive in more humid regions because seedlings struggle to establish themselves. This is a fast-growing tree that typically reaches around 40 feet tall. No Colorado champion trees are currently listed for the Tatarian variety, though champion specimens of the straight species, white mulberry, reach 45 to 55 feet tall with trunk diameters slightly greater than 5 feet, substantially larger than the Regis tree.