Pictures: Mulberries

hiker

The appearance and taste of mulberries takes me back to my youth. I lived near Lake Erie (Carolinian Zone). I spent time in the late spring climbing in our local mulberry trees and gorging myself with the ripe berries. I did this with my buddies and I guess we thought we were the Tom Sawyers of the day. A few of us would pick enough extras to take home and have them on our cereal the next morning. My mother was not very pleased with mulberry season. Her concerns had merit. She would wash our flannelette bed sheets and hang them outside on the clothes line. Then some mulberry-loving birds would fly over her bedsheets and let loose leaving a streak of purplish poo on the sheet(s).

In Waterloo Region I notice numerous mulberry trees and I assume most of them are Morus nigra (black mulberry) or are they Morus rubra? According to the Ontario government red mulberries are a "Species at Risk" and not normally found in Waterloo Region. Here is a link to a map showing the location of red mulberries (PDF). The University of Guelph (link below) states, "The fruits of the Red Mulberry are a dark red-purple-black when mature, and are comparatively darker than those of the White Mulberry." So, what is it that I am seeing (and eating) all over Kitchener and Waterloo? I know of the location of one White Mulberry tree near Highland Road (Kitchener). If you are interested in this type of information, have a look at the following links.
Helping rare red mulberry tree hang on (species at Point Pelee near my birth town)
Red mulberry (Species at Risk) - Ontario government
University of Guelph "The Arboretum" - red mulberry
Morus or mulberry - Wikipedia

 

Mulberry Music Banner

 

 Immature Mulberry Fruit
(compound drupe)

Immature Compound Drupe Red Mulberry

 

 Mulberry ruits at different stages of maturing
note one dark red/purple fruit at top near centre

Immature Red Mulberries

 

 Mulberry fruit at 3 stages of maturation

Red Mulberries

 

Mulberry fruit ready for eating

Red Ripe Mulberry

 

 "Breakfast of Hikers"
local strawberries + local mulberries
1/3 bran + 1/3 cheerios + 1/3 homemade granola
keeps a person hiking all day

Red Ripe Mulberry

 

Links to more pictures:

Snowstools | A "Pileated" White Pine | Red Trillium Variant at Huron Natural Area | Snowshoe at rare Charitable Research Reserve 2014 | A Story of Two Amulrees & The Highland Clearances | The Swamp Crew | Tynemouth Hooligans | "Wild Turkeys" | Hackberry | Turk's-cap Lily | Snowshoeing at Petersburg Tract 2015 | Niagara Glen | Massasauga rattlesnake  | We Hiked the Bruce Trail In Small Doses | Frogs Croaking at Huron Natural Area | Female flower of Black Pine  | Canada Goose Nesting | Red-Tailed Hawks | Snapping Turtle | Thistles & Tongue Twister | Mulberry ... more to follow .