North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 02:19 PM 8/11/2004 -0500, you wrote:
> I just found a mulberry tree that appears to be smack bang in the middle 
> of its fruiting. This is a good month plus after all other mulberries 
> around here stopped fruiting. Is this a[n unusual] late summer mulberry, 
> or is it just our wierd cool summer throwing off yet another plant?
sb,
I suspect that there's more than one NAFEX member on the list who'd be 
interested in getting a piece or two of dormant budwood from this tree to 
graft & trial - I know I'd be interested in trying it.


> Speaking of mulberries, when the traditional purple ones mix with small 
> children the result tends to be a big mess. :-)
In a conversation I had with Dr. David Griffith, earlier this summer, he 
was telling me of a Pakistani physician friend of his who indicated that 
every year during 'mulberry season' , he sees a rash of broken limbs(arms & 
legs - not branches) from folks falling out of the trees while eating berries.
While my kids are not that small anymore, we never really worried about a 
little purple staining - but, my wife was the impetus behind us planting 
mulberries in the first place, as she had fond memories of climbing a big 
mulberry tree in her neighbors' yard and gorging on the fruits.  So...she 
doesn't get stirred up about the stains.

>    Pomona has had references to white mulberries as tasting and being 
> non-staining. The name "afghanistan" shows up frequently. Any comments or 
> recommendations on mulberries that kids like and won't stain everything?
I've yet to run across a white-fruited mulberry that was to my liking - 
just a bit of sweet, and sort of a 'grassy' taste.
Gordon Nofs had one that was purported to taste like muskmelon, but my 
graft of it died out - or maybe it's still up there in that seedling M.alba 
somewhere and I just can't find it any more.
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking there are several named variety 
white-fruited selections, like Tehama & Beautiful Day.
You might check the NCGR site for Morus accessions - seems like they even 
have a taste-comparison chart there, if I recall correctly.



Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY