Paper mulberry

Broussonetia papyrifera

In other languages: Papiermoerbei (Nederlands) · Mûrier à papier (Français)

Comes from outside Europe, but is often planted here in gardens and parks.

The paper mulberry is a fast-growing deciduous tree from East and South-East Asia, related to the mulberry and the fig. There it grows on woodland edges, along rivers and on open, disturbed ground, and it has often run wild in warmer parts of the world. It does not grow wild in Belgium: you find it now and then in parks, arboreta and town gardens. You can recognise it by its variable leaves, which can be unlobed or deeply lobed on the same shoot, rough as sandpaper on top and soft as velvet underneath, and by the white milky sap from a broken leaf stalk. Its inner bark has been used for centuries to make paper and bark cloth, which gives it a special place in cultural history.

Caution: Male trees release a lot of pollen in May, which can cause hay fever in sensitive people. The tree produces suckers and readily runs wild from seed in warm regions: do not plant it in or next to a nature area.

Updated on 9 October 2026

Light
Full sun
warm and bright
Moisture
Dry to normal
no wet feet
Hardiness
Fully hardy
down to -20 °C
Size
8 m
tall, 6 m wide
Flowering
May–June

Key facts
Pruning months	January–February
Height	8 m
Native to Belgium	No, planted
Flowering	May–June

Identify

How to recognise it

Habit: Small to medium-sized tree, in Belgium usually 6–10 m, often multi-stemmed, with a broad, rounded, rather irregular crown. Produces suckers.
Leaf: 7–20 cm, oval, sometimes unlobed, sometimes with 2–5 deep lobes, with a toothed edge. Upper side rough as sandpaper, underside grey-green and velvety. A broken leaf stalk oozes white milky sap.
Flower: Male and female flowers on separate trees: in May, male trees carry hanging, worm-like catkins of 3–8 cm; female trees small round heads of 1–2 cm with long purple styles.
Fruit: A ball-shaped compound fruit of 2–3 cm, green at first, orange-red in August–September, studded with protruding, juicy fruitlets. Edible, sweet but bland, and quick to spoil.
Twigs and bark: Young twigs densely hairy; bark smooth and light grey, later shallowly fissured. The wood is soft and brittle.
Look-alikes: Mulberries (Morus) also have variably lobed leaves and milky sap, but elongated fruits like a blackberry and no velvety leaf underside. The fig has larger, thicker, palmately lobed leaves and bears figs.

Flowering: May–June · Pruning: January–February

In your garden

Why grow it?

Striking, playful foliage: on the same tree you find unlobed, mitten-shaped and deeply cut leaves.
Grows fast and tolerates drought, heat, poor soil and town air.
Female trees carry eye-catching, orange-red ball-shaped fruits in late summer, which birds like to peck at.
A living piece of cultural history: raw material for paper in East Asia and for tapa, the bark cloth of the Pacific islands.
An unusual tree for a warm town garden or a collection of exotic trees.

Paper mulberry: where does it grow best?

In its native range on woodland edges, along rivers, on open, disturbed ground and around villages; elsewhere often naturalised on waste ground and along roads.
In the garden: full sun, in a warm, sheltered spot, for example by a south-facing wall or in a town garden.
Any well-drained soil, even poor, dry or chalky; not wet soil.
The branches are brittle: shelter it from strong wind. Allow 5–6 m of space and keep it away from patios, where fallen fruits leave stains.

Goes well with

Fig: Also has rough, lobed leaves and also loves a warm, sunny wall.
Black mulberry: A relative with dark red, juicy fruit: together a small mulberry corner.
Lavender: Flowers in summer in the same dry sun and attracts bees, which the paper mulberry itself does not.
Bloody cranesbill: A low, tough ground cover for dry soil at the edge of the crown.

Maintenance

Paper mulberry: when and how to plant it?

Buy a young container-grown tree from a nursery that sells exotic trees. Ask whether it is a male or female plant, if that is known: only female trees bear fruit.
Plant in April–May, when the soil has warmed up: that way it can root well before its first winter.
Dig a planting hole twice as wide as the rootball, set the tree at the same depth as in the pot and firm the soil well.
Water straight away with 10–20 litres and put in an angled stake on the windward side.
In the first winters, protect the trunk of a young tree with hessian or fleece in hard frost.
Never dig up plants in the wild, not even on holiday: buy them from a nursery.

Care

Watering: In the first year, a good can of water every week in dry spells. After that it tolerates drought well.
Feeding: Not needed. Too much feeding gives soft, long shoots that are easily frosted in winter.
Suckers: Shoots come up from the roots, sometimes several metres from the trunk. Pull or cut them off as soon as you see them.
Winter protection: For the first two or three winters, a thick mulch over the roots and hessian round the trunk in hard frost.
Fruit: Pick up fallen fruit from paths and patios; it is soft and stains.

Tip: If you suffer from hay fever, choose a female tree: it produces no pollen. Give it the warmest, most sheltered spot in the garden.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: January–February.

When: In January–February, when the tree is fully dormant and it is not freezing hard.

How:

Remove dead, broken and crossing branches; cut frosted shoot tips back to live wood.
Shorten overlong, brittle branches so they do not snap in wind or under the weight of the fruit.
It tolerates hard pruning and regrows well from old wood; it can also be pollarded.
Cut off suckers all year round, as close to the root as possible.

Caution: Pruning releases white, sticky milky sap: wear gloves. Do not prune in spring, when the sap starts to rise.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Suckers: In spring, dig up a sucker with a piece of root and pot it up. This is the easiest method.
Root cuttings: In January–February, lay 5–10 cm pieces of root flat in a pot of sandy compost, cover lightly and keep frost-free.
Seed: Take the seeds out of ripe fruit, rinse them clean and sow them in a pot in spring at about 20 °C. Only pollinated female trees produce viable seed.

Paper mulberry: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

Deciduous: in autumn the leaves turn yellow to brown and fall.
Hardy to about −20 °C; shoot tips and young trees can be frosted, but usually regrow from old wood.
In the first winters, spread a thick mulch over the roots and choose a spot out of the cold wind.

Diseases and pests

Frosted shoots: After a hard winter the shoot tips are dead. Cut them back to live wood; the tree usually regrows vigorously.
Suckers: Shoots from the roots in the lawn or border. Cut them off regularly; in a lawn, mowing helps.
Broken branches: The soft wood snaps in storms or under the fruit. Shorten overlong branches in good time and plant in shelter.
Coral spot: Orange-red pustules on dead branches. Cut out dead wood in good time and take it away.

Through the year

January: Prune in mild weather. Take root cuttings.
February: Pruning is still possible. Protect young trees in hard frost.
April: Plant. Dig up suckers and pot them up.
May: Leaves open, and catkins and flower heads appear. Cut off dead, frosted shoot tips.
June: End of flowering. Remove suckers.
July: Water in dry spells, especially in the first year.
August: Female trees: the fruits turn orange-red.
September: Taste the ripe fruit or leave it for the birds. Collect seed.
October: The leaves turn yellow to brown.
November: Leaf fall. Mulch over the roots of young trees.

You and this species

Did you know?

Broussonetia honours the French naturalist Pierre Broussonet; papyrifera means ‘paper-bearing’. In East Asia its inner bark has been used to make paper for centuries, including traditional washi in Japan.
Thousands of years ago, Austronesian seafarers took it across the Pacific, as far as Hawaii and Easter Island, to beat its bark into tapa, a cloth for clothing and ceremonies.
In Islamabad, Pakistan, it has run wild on a large scale and its pollen is one of the main causes of hay fever.

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