Species
+

Morus nigra L.

Black Mulberry, Persian mulberry, Schwarzer Maulbeerbaum (DE); Mora negra (ES); Black Mulberry (EN)

Climate known 78 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

Morus nigra, or the black mulberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae that is native to southwestern Asia, where it has been cultivated for so long that its precise natural range is unknown. The black mulberry is known for its large number of chromosomes.

Text from Wikipedia, “Morus nigra”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

Family
Moraceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Iran
Wild records
3 in range· 1 open

At a glance

Warmest month
30°C
Jul, mean day; nights 18 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
501mm/yr
8 wet months · peak Apr 77 mm (CHELSA)
Light
16–50DLI
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 winter growing season, January to May and November in the northern hemisphere (January to May and November at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 501 mm a year, wettest April at 77 mm, driest July at 5 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 50 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -8.1 °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 Morus atrata Raf.; Morus cretica Raf.; Morus laciniata Mill.; Morus nigra var. dentata Ser.; Morus nigra var. laciniata (Mill.) Moretti and 6 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a winter growing season, January to May and November in the northern hemisphere (January to May and November at the habitat, northern).

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

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the year's rain (391 mm of 501 mm) falls in January to May and November, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 7.5 °C against a yearly mean of 12.9 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: May and July to November.

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 501 mm a year, wettest April at 77 mm, driest July at 5 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

501 mm a year at the habitat, 391 mm of it January to May and November. Wettest month April at 77 mm, driest July at 5 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 364 mm to 1151 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: 16 to 50 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 50 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 51).

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 -8.1 °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 -8.1 °C, the absolute minimum -14.7 °C, about 85 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.3 °C. Monthly means: coldest night -5.3 °C in January (across the envelope cells -7.1 °C to -3.9 °C), warmest day 30.2 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -8.1 °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: 46 to 58% 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 5 °C in Jan to 30 °C in Jul; mean night from -5 °C in Jan to 18 °C in Jul. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 501 mm of rain a year, most in Apr. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 3 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -14.7 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.3 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-20°-10°10°20°30°40°50°frost40.3° 99th-percentile day (undated)-14.7° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 16–50RH 46–58 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 3 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 °C5 / 2–66 / 3–811 / 8–1217 / 14–1923 / 21–2327 / 27–3030 / 30–3430 / 30–3426 / 26–2921 / 19–2213 / 11–147 / 4–8
Night °C-5 / -7–-4-5 / -6–-3-1 / -2–14 / 3–79 / 9–1114 / 14–1618 / 18–1918 / 18–1913 / 13–158 / 8–102 / 1–4-3 / -5–-2
Rain mm53 / 27–17566 / 32–18176 / 46–16877 / 54–15951 / 45–659 / 4–235 / 2–115 / 2–105 / 3–1437 / 31–7468 / 39–15749 / 27–161
DLI19 / 16–1926 / 22–2632 / 30–3338 / 38–3945 / 42–4650 / 46–5149 / 46–5045 / 42–4738 / 34–3827 / 25–2719 / 18–1916 / 14–16
RH %58 / 58–6158 / 58–6058 / 56–5956 / 52–5852 / 44–5747 / 37–5546 / 36–5346 / 36–5346 / 37–5652 / 44–5757 / 52–5858 / 56–60

Each figure is the median across the 3 grid cells holding the 3 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 1084:4505 (35.775, 45.275). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -14.7 °C, 1st-percentile night -8.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.3 °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 3 distinct grid cells holding the 3 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1084:4505 (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 36.00_45.000, lapse-corrected +432 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1369 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeIran· introduced: Great Britain, Spain, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Canary Is., Madeira, Kazakhstan, Kirgizistan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, Transcaucasus, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Turkey, Xinjiang, India, West Himalaya, Vietnam, Bermuda, Cuba, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Windward Is.
Kew's description“tree” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 3 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 1 openly licensed one, which alone would put the marker 299 km away. 1390 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. Under a dozen records: treat the map and the climate as indicative.

Photographs

Morus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigraMorus nigra

Photographs: (c) Josh, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) zebedeugalinha, some rights reserved (CC BY) (6).

Photographs: iNaturalist 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 Morus nigra, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Evaluation of solvent effect on the extraction of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities from the berries: application of principal component analysis
Joana Schuelter Boeing, Érica Oliveira Barizão, Beatriz Costa e Silva, Paula Fernandes Montanher (2014) · Chemistry Central Journal
Phytochemical Analysis of Medicinal Plants Occurring in Local Area of Mardan
Abdul Wadood (2013) · Biochemistry & Analytical Biochemistry
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan
Muhammad Umair, Muhammad Altaf, Rainer W. Bussmann, Arshad Mehmood Abbasi (2019) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Phenolic Acid Profiles in Some Small Berries
R. Zadernowski, M. Naczk, J. Nesterowicz (2005) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Phytochemical and antioxidant properties of anthocyanin-rich Morus nigra and Morus rubra fruits
Mustafa Özgen, Sedat Serçe, Cemal Kaya (2008) · Scientia Horticulturae
Optimization of the ultrasound-assisted extraction of anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds in mulberry (Morus nigra) pulp
Estrella Espada-Bellido, Marta Ferreiro‐González, Ceferino Carrera, Miguel Palma (2016) · Food Chemistry
Determination of fruit chemical properties of Morus nigra L., Morus alba L. and Morus rubra L. by HPLC
Muttalip Gündoğdu, Ferhad Muradoğlu, Ruhan İlknur Gazioğlu Şensoy, Hilal Yılmaz (2011) · Scientia Horticulturae
Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of certain Morus species
Muhammad Imran, Hamayun Khan, Mohibullah Shah, Rasool Khan (2010) · Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE B
Proximate Composition and Antioxidant Potential of Leaves from Three Varieties of Mulberry (Morus sp.): A Comparative Study
Shahid Iqbal, Umer Younas, Siraj Uddin, Kim Wei Chan (2012) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Phytochemical evaluation of white (Morus alba L.) and black (Morus nigra L.) mulberry fruits, a starting point for the assessment of their beneficial properties
Eva M. Sánchez-Salcedo, Pedro Mena, Cristina García‐Viguera, Juan José Martínez Nicolás (2014) · Journal of Functional Foods
Quali-quantitative Analyses of Flavonoids of Morus nigra L. and Morus alba L. (Moraceae) Fruits
Agata Pawłowska, Wiesław Oleszek, Alessandra Braca (2008) · Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

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.

Other Morus 3 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (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 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried 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 2026-09-19; 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 206 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.