Edible RVA: Mulberry Salad

Disclaimer: “do not eat any wild plants, herbs, trees, mushrooms until you have verified with your health professional that they are safe for you; these articles are for inspiration and entertainment.  No liability exists against Truetimber Arborists, Peter Girardi, or Urban Forest Dweller or anyone who works or volunteers for us; nor can they be held responsible for any allergy, illness, or injurious effect that any person or animal may suffer as a result of information in these articles or website or through using any of the plants, trees, mushrooms, or things mentioned”

Last Friday I was riding my bike on a breezy day in the Southside of Richmond, heading from my office to the Dogwood Dell area where I had parked my car earlier. As I cruised along the road with my head down in the wind, I saw the sidewalk up ahead blocked by leafy branches with red and mostly black fruit. I could see from over 100 yards away that it was a mulberry tree with ripe fruit. 

I hopped the curb and stopped under the shade of the tree and started to eat the darkest fruit I could find (there’s evidence that unripe mulberry fruit can cause digestive problems). Some I grabbed with my hand. Others I just ate right off the branch. This is a fruit that will leave evidence on your hands, your mouth, and your teeth. With my purple teeth, I smiled at a young man walking down the sidewalk. He did a double take. I think he was laughing at me.

I got back on my bike, and when I was near an apartment complex I saw two kids with a plastic bowl collecting mulberries. A few more miles down the street a young woman was reaching up into another mulberry tree in an empty lot collecting fruit. They must have been calling us to eat them!

I guess since we are talking about mulberry trees, we should talk about the different mulberry trees you’ll find here in Richmond: red mulberry (Morus rubra), white mulberry (Morus alba), and paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)… have fun looking them up.  

The fruit on the mulberry is technically not a true berry. It’s actually an aggregate of very small fruits called drupes. Other drupe fruits include peaches, plums and cherries. True berry fruits include blueberries, cranberries, grapes, and tomatoes.

Here are a few nutritional facts that I found on a quick internet search, on Dr. Mercola’s website:

• Mulberry trees are on nearly every continent and have a long history of food use, as well as use in disease prevention
• Traditional medicinal uses for mulberries included treating diseases of the mouth, throat and lungs, strengthening bone tissue, protecting vision, improving metabolism, increasing blood circulation and acting as a treatment for dysentery and a digestive aid
• Mulberries contain vitamins C, K, B-complex, A and E, iron, potassium, magnesium and resveratrol, each bringing their own constituents for health

Here is another mulberry comment I found in a book titled Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants by “Wildman” Steve Brill:

• “The water of boiled young mulberry leaves, the unripe berries, uncooked young leaves, and mature leaves are toxic and mildly hallucinogenic”… Steve Brill explains that the hallucination may be caused by a “terrific headache and an upset stomach”.

So what else have I seen out there while on my bike over the past few weeks that may or may not be edible or have some medicinal use (I actually didn’t sample or eat any of these listed below):

• Knotweed, chicken of the woods mushroom, unripe purple leaf plum tree fruit, unripe blueberries in the woods, wild ginger, bear corn, morel mushroom in two clients yards (both didn’t know they had it there, just hiding in their garden), black locust flowers, and cattails.

Oh, and by the way: mulberry salad is delicious!