It’s mulberry season again on the Route 1 corridor.
The berries of the deciduous tree can be found all over area streets and sidewalks, as well as the purple-stained fingers of kids in local parks.
Along with other berries in Maryland, mulberries generally ripen in June, although they came a little earlier this year. Though the red mulberry is native, the trees around the Route 1 corridor are mostly white mulberries, an invasive species from Asia.
The berries are edible, but they don’t last long, so it’s best to eat them within a day of harvesting, or else freeze them or use them to make pies, tarts or jams.
Ripened mulberries should come right off the tree, or you could lay a tarp or old blanket on the ground and knock them loose with a stick or a broom.
Along Route 1, you can find mulberry trees at Driskell Park in Hyattsville, along Wells Run in University Park, at Lake Artemesia in College Park and on a handful of residential streets. You can find exact locations using the Falling Fruit foraging map.
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This is NOT a native tree. There are native mulberries, but what we’re seeing around area parks and streets now is White Mulberry, Morus alba, introduced in Colonial times from Asia in a futile attempt to jumpstart an American silk industry. It is nonnative and considered invasive. See https://extension.umd.edu/resource/invasives-your-woodland-white-mulberry/