Species
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Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hér. ex Vent.

Aute, Echte Papiermaulbeere (DE), Mahute, Paper Mulberry

Climate known 64 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

The paper mulberry is a species of flowering tree in the family Moraceae. It is native to East and Southeast Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar and Taiwan. It is widely cultivated elsewhere as an introduced species in New Zealand, parts of Europe, the United States, and Africa. The tree is valued for its versatile uses. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Paper mulberry”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Broussonetia

Broussonetia is a genus of four species of trees in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Asia. These four species have high-quality fiber which consist of more than 90% of cellulose. They are traditionally applied for various daily necessities in South Eastern Asia and papermaking in East Asia. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Broussonetia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Moraceae
Described by
(L.) L'Hér. ex Vent.
Native to
China South-Central, Hainan, China North-Central +12
Wild records
706 in range· 190 open

At a glance

Warmest month
30°C
Jul, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1796mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jun 312 mm (CHELSA)
Light
18–35DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to September in the northern hemisphere (May to September at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1796 mm a year, wettest June at 312 mm, driest December at 33 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 35 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 9.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Broussonetia billardii Carruth.; Broussonetia cordata Blume; Broussonetia cordata K.Koch; Broussonetia cucullata Steud.; Broussonetia dissecta Bureau and 45 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to September in the northern hemisphere (May to September at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1311 mm of 1796 mm) falls in May to September, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 26.2 °C against a yearly mean of 21.5 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to March.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1796 mm a year, wettest June at 312 mm, driest December at 33 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1796 mm a year at the habitat, 1311 mm of it May to September. Wettest month June at 312 mm, driest December at 33 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 900 mm to 3297 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 35 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 35 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 14, the highest 90th-percentile month 38).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 9.3 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 9.3 °C, the absolute minimum 3.4 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.6 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 10.7 °C in January (across the envelope cells -4.0 °C to 14.9 °C), warmest day 29.8 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 9.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 61 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 17 °C in Jan to 30 °C in Jul; mean night from 11 °C in Jan to 24 °C in Jul. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1796 mm of rain a year, most in Jun. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 501 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 3.4 °C and the 99th-percentile day 33.6 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost33.6° 99th-percentile day (undated)3.4° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 18–35RH 61–65 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 501 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C17 / 5–2118 / 8–2220 / 13–2524 / 18–2726 / 22–2929 / 24–3030 / 26–3229 / 26–3127 / 23–2925 / 19–2822 / 13–2518 / 7–22
Night °C11 / -4–1512 / -2–1614 / 2–1818 / 9–2120 / 14–2423 / 17–2524 / 19–2624 / 19–2622 / 15–2519 / 10–2316 / 4–2012 / -2–16
Rain mm39 / 7–11766 / 13–17792 / 24–196132 / 38–219222 / 75–347312 / 115–452276 / 165–462293 / 143–502208 / 82–48976 / 32–29947 / 18–18033 / 9–118
DLI19 / 14–2522 / 16–2828 / 20–3332 / 25–3733 / 28–3733 / 29–3635 / 30–3832 / 29–3529 / 25–3225 / 19–3020 / 16–2518 / 14–23
RH %62 / 55–6763 / 54–6863 / 53–6763 / 54–6864 / 57–6865 / 59–6965 / 62–6865 / 62–6864 / 60–6863 / 57–6762 / 56–6761 / 55–66

Each figure is the median across the 501 grid cells holding the 692 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1335:6011 (23.225, 120.575). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 3.4 °C, 1st-percentile night 9.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 501 distinct grid cells holding the 692 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1335:6011 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 23.00_120.625, lapse-corrected +47 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 561 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, Hainan, China North-Central, China Southeast, Tibet, Korea, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam· introduced: Austria, Hungary, France, Sardegna, Spain, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Sicilia, Uganda, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Japan, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, East Himalaya, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera, New Guinea, Solomon Is., Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Easter Is., Marquesas, Pitcairn Is., Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Marianas, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., West Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, District of Columbia, Argentina Northeast, Chile Central
Kew's description“tree” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker23.66, 120.551 · in the densest population, 367 records (52% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 706 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 190 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 17 km away. 1108 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 14 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 706 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Broussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyriferaBroussonetia papyrifera

Photographs: (c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (7); (c) carnifex, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Broussonetia papyrifera, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Evaluation of polyphenols from Broussonetia papyrifera as coronavirus protease inhibitors
Ji-Young Park, Heung Joo Yuk, Hyung Won Ryu, Su Hwan Lim (2017) · Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry
Microparticle collection and concentration via a miniature surface acoustic wave device
Ming K. Tan, James Friend, Leslie Y. Yeo (2007) · Lab on a Chip
Aromatase Inhibitors from Broussonetia papyrifera
Dongho Lee, Krishna Bhat, Harry H. S. Fong, Norman R. Farnsworth (2001) · Journal of Natural Products
Extraction, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Broussonetia papyrifera fruits polysaccharides
Qiao-Hong Han, Zili Wu, Bo Huang, Liangqi Sun (2016) · International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Tyrosinase inhibitors from paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)
Zong‐Ping Zheng, Ka‐Wing Cheng, Jianfei Chao, Jiajun Wu (2007) · Food Chemistry
Effects of salt stress on ion content, antioxidant enzymes and protein profile in different tissues of Broussonetia papyrifera
Min Zhang, Yanming Fang, Yonghua Ji, Zeping Jiang (2012) · South African Journal of Botany
Theoretical daily variation patterns of airborne pollen in the southwest of spain
Carmen Galán, Rafael Tormo, J. Cuevas, F Infante (1991) · Grana
Polyphenols from Broussonetia papyrifera Displaying Potent α-Glucosidase Inhibition
Hyung Won Ryu, Byong Won Lee, Marcus J. C. Long, Sunin Jung (2009) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Natural PTP1B Inhibitors from broussonetia papyrifera
Rong Min Chen, Li Hu, Tian Ying An, Jia Li (2002) · Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 122 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.