Tim Tyler writes
K wrote:

What do the male catkins look like, anyway? I've had a good look on
my tree this morning and all I can see is what I presume are female
catkins, basically looking like embryonic fruit.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/terminf1.htm
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm4

Scroll down for the pictures.

OK, thanks :-)

Definitely female catkins. I note he says that male and female catkins
occur on different trees (both as a general statement about mulberries
in general, then further down about black mulberries specifically) and
that would explain why I can't find male catkins. But you were saying
that black mulberry is monoecious? And obviously your particular tree is
if you are in a position to pinch out male catkins.

--
Kay

K wrote:
Tim Tyler writes

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/terminf1.htm
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm4

Scroll down for the pictures.

....and strip off any numbers accidentally appended to
the URLs.

Definitely female catkins. I note he says that male and female catkins
occur on different trees (both as a general statement about mulberries
in general, then further down about black mulberries specifically) and
that would explain why I can't find male catkins.

Perhaps too late for male catkins where you are.

From the same site:

``The black mulberry (Morus nigra), a monoecious tree native to western
Asia''

- http://waynesword.palomar.edu/jackfr1.htm

``The black mulberry (Morus nigra) is a dioecious tree native to western
Asia''

- http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm

I suspect a copy-and-paste-o.

But you were saying that black mulberry is monoecious?
And obviously your particular tree is if you are in a
position to pinch out male catkins.

Black mulberry is always monoecious - AFAIK.

A few web sites claim it is dioecious. Maybe there
are dioecious black mulberry plants around that I
haven't heard about.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply.

In message , Tim Tyler
writes
K wrote:
Tim Tyler writes

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/terminf1.htm
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm4

Scroll down for the pictures.

...and strip off any numbers accidentally appended to
the URLs.

Definitely female catkins. I note he says that male and female
catkins occur on different trees (both as a general statement about
mulberries in general, then further down about black mulberries
specifically) and that would explain why I can't find male catkins.

Perhaps too late for male catkins where you are.

From the same site:

``The black mulberry (Morus nigra), a monoecious tree native to western
Asia''

- http://waynesword.palomar.edu/jackfr1.htm

``The black mulberry (Morus nigra) is a dioecious tree native to
western Asia''

- http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm

I suspect a copy-and-paste-o.

But you were saying that black mulberry is monoecious?
And obviously your particular tree is if you are in a
position to pinch out male catkins.

Black mulberry is always monoecious - AFAIK.

A few web sites claim it is dioecious. Maybe there
are dioecious black mulberry plants around that I
haven't heard about.

Stace says (of the genus, or rather of the pair of species Morus nigra
and Morus alba) "monoecious". Mitchell writes "occasionally some
branches entirely male".

If you go to Google Scholar you find that mulberries can be male,
female, monoecious or synoecious (hermaphrodite). I didn't find any
relevant papers accessible to non-subscribers, but bits of the
sericultural literature say that it is usually dioecious. Elsewhere it
is said that mulberries can change sex from year to year.

From all this data it's not clear how to describe the distribution of
sexes in mulberry, other than as "messy". Subtrioecious might do duty to
describe the situation, but this is word is not attested in Google.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
http://www.malvaceae.info/Biology/SexDistribution.html

Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:

If you go to Google Scholar you find that mulberries can be male,
female, monoecious or synoecious (hermaphrodite). I didn't find any
relevant papers accessible to non-subscribers, but bits of the
sericultural literature say that it is usually dioecious. Elsewhere it
is said that mulberries can change sex from year to year.

Most mulberries are not Morus Nigra.

Morus alba and Morus rubra are usually dioecious -
but we are talking about Morus Nigra here.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply.

Tim Tyler writes
K wrote:
Tim Tyler writes

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/terminf1.htm
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/fruitid6.htm4

Scroll down for the pictures.

...and strip off any numbers accidentally appended to
the URLs.

Definitely female catkins. I note he says that male and female
catkins occur on different trees (both as a general statement about
mulberries in general, then further down about black mulberries
specifically) and that would explain why I can't find male catkins.

Perhaps too late for male catkins where you are.

Hardly!! The leaves haven't completely unfurled yet. Too early, possibly
;-)


--
Kay

In article , K
writes
Interesting site. I think you're a bit misleading on dormancy for those
of us in N England - mine is just breaking leaf mid way through May. It
wouldn't do for me to start panicking at the beginning of May!



Afraid I'd be no good, I chopped mine down to stump size a few years
back as it kept breaking branches in a wind and had such tiny fruit it
wasn't worth bothering. It also grows roots across the lawn and under
the greenhouse, very close to the surface and it now produces masses of
6 - 7 foot lengths of growth throughout the summer which I take off in
the winter. Not a tree I'd ever plant again. The fruit dropped and
stained everywhere and the butterflies used t get drunk on the mix of
the fruit and the water on the lid of the rain barrel!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Janet Tweedy wrote:

Afraid I'd be no good, I chopped mine down to stump size a few years
back as it kept breaking branches in a wind and had such tiny fruit it
wasn't worth bothering. It also grows roots across the lawn and under
the greenhouse, very close to the surface and it now produces masses of
6 - 7 foot lengths of growth throughout the summer which I take off in
the winter. Not a tree I'd ever plant again.

Someone on:

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=43364

....recommends drilling holes into the stump - to allow
herbicides to penetrate.

More regular pruning might also help. Getting leaves out
is likely to help the plant to survive. Best would be
to keep it at the bud stage.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply.

Tim Tyler wrote:
Someone on:

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=43364

...recommends drilling holes into the stump - to allow
herbicides to penetrate.

They also state:

``A mulberry seed has a coating on it that will not
allow the seed to germinate. This coating is removed
only by passage through a bird's gullet. And consequently,
you find mulberries growing where birds tend to sit,
under eaves of house, fence lines, under other trees
and shrubs, and under power lines.''

I germinate black mulberries without such processing.

However:

Does Ingestion by Birds Affect Seed Germination?
A. Barnea, Y. Yom-Tov, J. Friedman

....and...

The impact of frugivorous birds on seed dispersal and germination of
multi-seeded berries: Mullberry (morus nigra) and Nightshade (Solanum
luteum). The 25th meeting of the Zoological Society in Israel. 1988.
Barnea, A., Yom-Tov, Y. and Friedman, J.

....seem to concur: a bird's gut helps.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply.

In article , Tim Tyler
writes

Someone on:

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=43364

...recommends drilling holes into the stump - to allow
herbicides to penetrate.

More regular pruning might also help. Getting leaves out
is likely to help the plant to survive. Best would be
to keep it at the bud stage.


Er well you misunderstand me, I don't mind the stump or the growth now
as my brother says , in winter it looks like an elephant has fallen from
the sky upside down with four five foot trunks and one main stem that
looks like a seat. I allow the four stems to grow every year as it makes
a unique seat this also seems to keep the growth of the roots under my
lawn from getting nay bigger.
Afraid 'him-indoors' likes it now!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , David Rance
writes
On Sat, 19 May 2007 Tim Tyler wrote:
I've put together a 'mulberry trees' web site:

-- http://mulberrytrees.co.uk/ --

Very good. I like it. However you make propagation sound terribly easy.
I've tried propagating from my black mulberry for many years, cuttings
and seed, but have consistently had a 100% failure rate.

David

Unfortunately I've managed several! You wouldn't want mine, being seed
raised the fruit is uselessly small. Can send you some lengths of stem
though to try yourself (she says hopefully)
I put some cuttings round the pond to hold the netting up after the
stork flew by and two of them started growing so I had to yank them
out
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Janet Tweedy writes
In article , K
writes
Interesting site. I think you're a bit misleading on dormancy for
those of us in N England - mine is just breaking leaf mid way through
May. It wouldn't do for me to start panicking at the beginning of May!



Afraid I'd be no good, I chopped mine down to stump size a few years
back as it kept breaking branches in a wind and had such tiny fruit it
wasn't worth bothering. It also grows roots across the lawn and under
the greenhouse, very close to the surface and it now produces masses of
6 - 7 foot lengths of growth throughout the summer which I take off in
the winter. Not a tree I'd ever plant again. The fruit dropped and
stained everywhere and the butterflies used t get drunk on the mix of
the fruit and the water on the lid of the rain barrel!

I still think yours wasn't a black mulberry ;-)
Fruit too small, growth too fast.
--
Kay

Tim Tyler wrote:

I've put together a 'mulberry trees' web site:

-- http://mulberrytrees.co.uk/ --

The site identifies the location of
UK mulberry trees - using Google Maps where
possible - in order to better help people
appreciate the virtues of mulberry fruit.

Some community effort is required to help
realize this plan - please help share your
mulberry tree knowledge.

[...]

submissions from anywhere in the UK would
be very welcome.

Thanks very much to all who responded - it's made
quite a difference to the site.

Happy pickings!
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply.

In article , K
writes

I still think yours wasn't a black mulberry ;-)
Fruit too small, growth too fast.


Well it was seed of morus nigra from the RHS and the white mulberry is
different altogether!
I assume it's like an apple tree grown from a pip. It doesn't have the
characteristics of its parents necessarily.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk