Shahtoot / Mulberry 

 Scientific Name -  Morus Alba 

 Common Name - Mulberry 

 Family Name -  Moraceae 

 Bark -  
Dark or medium brown 
Rough with shallow vertical features 
Becomes accentuated with age 

 Leaf - 
Extremely variable 
5- 18cm long 
heart -shaped base and pointy tip but some leaves are deeply lobed 
3-5veins start from the veins and the edges of the leaf are irregularly toothed 
Teeth may be sharp , forward pointing , blunt or rounded 

 Flowers -  
Tiny, greenish, crowded on slender spikes  
Male and female are separate but grow on the same tree 
Male - Longer and fall off in great quantity 
Female - Spikes half as long with individual flowers packed together closely. 
Fruit - 
Compound , comprising lots of individual berries 
Cultivated mulberries are 5cm long while others may be shorter 
Fruit can be pink , lavender , violet or nearly black 

Range - 
C and E China and Japan
Cultivated in India since ancient times
Common as self sown plant 
Grown in plains and hilly regions 


Uses - 
Silkworms are reared on the leaves of the tree in China. 
The fruit is considered a laxative and used
by Unani Hakeems to treat sore throats, dyspepsia and melancholia 

Legend  - 

 In China the mulberry is  a symbol of the archer because there is legend tells that tells us how the first bow was made by Emperor Huangdi to defeat a tiger who had chased him into a mulberry tree.



   





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