White mulberry or Black mulberry: how to tell them apart?
White mulberry and Black mulberry look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
White mulberry
Morus alba
Black mulberry
Morus nigra
White mulberry has fruits that stay white to pinkish even when ripe and paler bark, whereas black mulberry produces fruits that turn black when ripe.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, ovate, glossy, toothed, the historic food of the silkworm
Broad, heart-shaped, toothed, sometimes lobed, rough to the touch
🌸 Flowers
Small, greenish, inconspicuous, grouped in catkins; monoecious or dioecious depending on the individual
Inconspicuous greenish catkins
🍎 Fruits
Elongated false berry, white to pinkish when ripe, sweet but only mildly tart
Fleshy mulberries, dark red to black, sweet
🪵 Bark
Grey, cracking slightly with age
Orange-brown, fissured
📏 Size
8 to 15 m tall
6 to 12 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Planted as a street tree and in gardens, also naturalised in the south
Gardens, hedges, often planted then self-sown
⚠️ Toxicity
Ripe fruit edible; unripe fruits and leaves may cause mild digestive upset
No known toxicity; unripe fruits and milky sap slightly irritant
🔎 And from the Black mulberry side
White mulberry has fruits that stay white to pinkish even when ripe and paler bark, whereas black mulberry produces fruits that turn black when ripe.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.