Morus microphylla

Morus microphylla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Moraceae
Genus: Morus
Species:
M. microphylla
Binomial name
Morus microphylla
Range map of M. microphylla from Atlas of United States Trees (1976)
Synonyms
  • Morus confinis Greene
  • Morus grisea Greene
  • Morus radulina Greene

Morus microphylla, the Texas mulberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae. It is a shrub or tree native to northern Mexico and to central and west Texas, southwestern Oklahoma, and the southern half of New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. It grows in canyons and on slopes, usually near streams, from 200–2,200 metres (660–7,220 feet) in elevation.

Morus microphylla is a shrub or tree, sometimes reaching 7.5 m (25 ft) in height. It has much smaller leaves than the other two species native to the US (M. alba and M. rubra), the blade usually less than 7 centimetres (2+3⁄4 inches) long; the leaves are dark green on top, paler and hairy on the bottom.. It is dioecious (that is, each plant has only male or only female flowers), with clusters of tiny flowers appearing in spring along with the leaves. The edible fruits are red, purple, or nearly black, about 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm) long, and are consumed by wildlife, and, historically, by Native Americans. In ancient (probably prehistoric) times, the Havasupai people introduced the species to the Grand Canyon.

The species was described by Samuel Botsford Buckley in 1862. Some authorities treat it as a synonym of Morus celtidifolia.

References

  1. ↑ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). (2020). "Morus microphylla". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020 e.T131214885A156821938. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T131214885A156821938.en. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Buckley, Samuel Botsford (1862). "Descriptions of new plants from Texas – no. 2". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 14 (1): 8.
  3. 1 2 "Morus microphylla Buckley". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 432. ISBN 0-394-50760-6.
  5. ↑ Wunderlin, Richard P. (1997). "Morus microphylla". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri and Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  6. ↑ Thomas H. Kearney & Robert H. Peebles. 1979. Arizona Flora, with Supplement, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  7. ↑ P. Martin et al. 2000. Gentry's Rio Mayo Plants. The Tropical Deciduous Forest & Environs of Northwest Mexico. University of Arizona Press, Tucson
  8. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980]. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 425. ISBN 0-394-50761-4.
  9. ↑ Berg, C. C. 2001. Moreae, Artocarpeae, and Dorstenia (Moraceae) with introductions to the family and Ficus and with additions and corrections to Flora Neotropica Monograph 7. Flora Neotropica 83: iii–iv, 1–346.
  10. ↑ Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee & S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2013. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
  11. ↑ Berg, C. C. 1998. 27B. Moraceae (excl. Ficus). 60: 1–128. In G. W. Harling & L. Andersson (eds.), Flora of Ecuador .University of Göteborg, Göteborg.
  12. ↑ Linares, J. L. 2005. Listado comentado de los árboles nativos y cultivados en la república de El Salvador. Ceiba 44(2): 105–268.