Mulberries

At scout camp last week I was pleased to find a mulberry tree right in the midst of our camp.  It helped provide shade, and was filled with berries.

This was a red mulberry tree, which is native.

There are also exotic, white mulberry trees, which were brought into the U.S. in the 1700's, the late 1820's and at other times, in hopes of using them in silk production.  The favorite food of the silk worm, by far, is the white mulberry leaf.  They will also eat red mulberry leaves, and interestingly, Osage orange leaves.  Brigham Young, the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, imported mulberry trees and silkworms to the Utah territory in the 1850's, and members of the church there produced their own silk for about fifty years.

The fruit starts out white, then changes to red, and finally becomes a deep purple, as you can see in the photo, below.  The dark berries will stain your fingers but their sweetness is well worth it.

The ripe fruit drop to the ground, which is where I first noticed them in our camp.  They attracted raccoons and skunks, but these foragers only came around when we were all quietly resting in our cots.

I did not need to go so far afield to get photos of mulberries, as we have a tree growing in our backyard, but somehow I have never taken the time to photograph it.