Mulberry

The fruit of the mulberry, similar to the blackberry, is an aggregate fruit that is composed of many smaller fruits called drupes. The skin is smooth and fragile, and the color changes from green to red to dark purple as it matures. There are also white mulberry varieties that exist. Mulberries have a stem that persists on the fruit when it is picked from the tree, distinguishing it from blackberries and raspberries. Mulberries grow on a deciduous tree that can reach 30 to 80 feet in height. Mulberries are fast-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed 10-15 m tall. A fully ripened mulberry is dark purple to black, edible, and sweet with a good flavor in several species.