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MULBERRY
Morus spp.
mulberry is generally Morus citrifolia of the family Moraceae but there are several others including
red mulberry = Morus rubra
black mulberry = Morus nigra
white mulberry = Morus alba
all of the family Moraceae
A medium density hardwood with a closed, straight grain. Color is a bright yellow sapwood with a light tan heart wood. Color tends to turn brown with exposure to sunlight. To the uninitiated, this wood can be confused with osage orange, but differences in the wood structure are trivially easy to spot in the end grain. The late growth in mulberry is full of open pores, much like ash, whereas the late growth in osage orange is solid. Also, the rays and general structure are different but that's harder to detect. See the end grain closeups of both on this site. Another thing that makes them very easy to distinguish is that mulberry is about 40 pounds per cubic foot where as osage orange is about 55.
my samples:
plank and end grain --- plank contributed by Chris Arvidson, whom I thank for this and other contributions. The end grain shot makes this look remarkably like a color-faded osage orange, but the plank up close and in person doesn't really look all that much like osage orange.
same plank as directly above but moistened with water
both sides and both ends of a sample piece
closeup of the end grain from the piece directly above
both sides of a sample plank --- the darker color of the 2nd pic is due to poor color correction; the pic on the left has accurate color
end grain and end grain closeup of the sample plank directly above
another mulberry block and two closeups of the end grain --- both end grain shots are a little too green
small sticks and end grain closeups --- the bright yellow color is correct, but there is a green tinge in the pics that was not present in the wood itself.
plank and end grain --- the color of this plank in a strong light is a brighter yellow than I have been able to reproduce here. It's almost as bright as osage orange.
end grain closeup of the piece directly above.
turning stock --- ends are sealed with Anchorseal but the enlargements do a good job of showing the grain. Color is accurate
mulberry bowl blank; this is the larger of the three pieces directly above --- color is a shade too orange; should be more yellow, no orange
closeup of the flat cut face of the bowl blank directly above but cleaned up and sanded --- color is a shade too orange; should be more yellow, no orange
closeup of the quartersawn face of the bowl blank directly above --- color is a shade too orange; should be more yellow, no orange
end grain closeup of the bowl blank directly above --- color is a shade too orange; should be more yellow, no orange
two planks and a closeup --- these and the set directly below are all from the same lot and they were sold to me as osage orange by a vendor whom I currently assume to be merely ignorant, not dishonest. If you're not experienced, they can be a little hard to tell apart, although with any experience at all it is trivially easy to do so.
Note that in both sets, the upper plank has some nice ray flakes, best seen in the closeup since the distance pic is just a tad out of focus and the enlargements do not show the sharp detail that they should.
two planks and a closeup
these are the web pics of the "osage orange" that I bought (shown directly above) --- the closeup is way too washed out and the distance pic is a little washed out --- my pics colors are accurate
end grain closeup sent to me by Miles Hember, whom I thank for this and other contributions
a face plate that Miles made from mulberry --- he hasn't decided yet whether the light will be permanently on or permanently off, but since he neglected to put in a hole for the switch, it will have to be one or the other. :-)
white mulberry slab
closeup of the slab directly above --- lots of cracks in this but marvelous grain. Lighter color of closeup is due to bright light up close.
smaller section of the slab above, sanded down for the pic, and an end grain shot.
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
white mulberry plank and closeup
web pics
planks --- the 2nd one is 8 feet long and was listed as European mulberry
log cross section --- this has been moistened for the pic --- you can see dry (and much lighter) areas at the upper and lower edges
planks
set of mulberry planks --- pic on left is wet, on right is the other side dry
both sides of a set of small planks
slab moistened for the pic
turning blocks
turning blocks with cluster burls
turning blanks with a brilliant color that is not believable as a raw wood color for this species
several views of a couple of pieces with a crotch area at one end
pen blanks
pen blanks, all listed as American red mulberry
red mulberry scales
turning stock listed as red mulberry --- I suspect the orange color is incorrect although possibly it is an artifact of waxing
two pices of red mulbery from the same branch but the one on the left was exposed for about 30 years and the one on the right is freshly cut. Pics submitted by Iain Rankin, whom I thank. Great example of how this wood will darken with long exposure to UV.
listed as white mulberry --- I bought this and as you will see in my pics of it, the color is not as dark as shown here --- this is probably moistened for the pic
listed as carpathian mulberry burl
planks from the BogusColorVendor so I don't have a clue whether the color is anything like the real wood, but I would guess not, considering both the source and how ridiculous it looks.
turned mulberry items by artist Melissa Bishop (bowl, paperweight, vase)