There is much confusion regarding marketing of 'Black Mulberry' in the nursery trade here in the USA. True black mulberry - Morus nigra - is largely limited to being grown in areas with a Mediterranean climate... it does not fare at all well in the eastern US, as fungal diseases favored by our hot humid summers do it in. Even Dr. Bullard had long ago despaired of growing M. nigra here in the east. But there are many nurseries which advertise 'Black Mulberry' varieties, which are merely black/purple-fruited selections of Morus alba - including 'Persian Black', mentioned in your article.
There are numerous 'everbearing' mulberry varieties which are naturally-occurring hybrids of our native Red mulberry, Morus rubra, and the introduced Morus alba. These hybrids' fruits - while they may never approximate the depth of flavor of a true Morus nigra - have a much deeper flavor profile and better sweet/tart balance than those of M. alba, and are more productive than M. rubra. 'Illinois Everbearing', 'Collier', 'Lawson Dawson', and one of Dr. Bullard's own favorites, 'Silk Hope' are shining examples of these tasty M.rubraXalba hybrids.
There are a number of NAFEX members who have in-hand, and are continuing to propagate, many of Dr. Bullard's selections, including the rescued antebellum mulberry varieties, 'Hicks Everbearing' and 'Stubbs', which were mainstays on southern farmsteads as food sources for poultry and pigs. But, with regard to NAFEX taking conservatorship of Dr. Bullard's collection, I think that is not to have been a possibility.
Thanks Lucky for the Update. The best Morus Nigra Plantings I have seen were in New Mexico. The "English Black" Mulberry grown in the UK and colonial New England was something Bullard said had diverged from the Morus Nigra. He had tried to get cuttings from one of the James I trees still standing in England to test it out, but getting the plant material in the U.S. posed too many legal problems since he was not an academic or governmental breeder. I've alway been curious about the Stubbs wondering whether it was truly a natural hybrid, or a strain of rubra with particularly prolific fruiting.
I have Hicks growing here, but have not seen Stubbs (yet). Some younger NAFEX members had wanted to re-name Hicks after Dr. Bullard, after he helped them find some of the last surviving Hicks trees so that they could propagate it. He declined that tribute - principally because of its history - but also due to the fact that while Hicks may be quite productive, he did not regard the fruit quality to be all that great - but then, pigs and chickens are not noted for their discerning palates.
At the behest of my wife who has had the opportunity to eat M. nigra fruits while in Spain, I've tried to grow it here on a couple of occasions, despite Dr. Bullard's caution that I was not likely to succeed. Some years back, I purchased grafted specimens of Noir de Spain, James II, and Persian Black from Lucille Whitman - at that time, she was listing all as M. nigra, but no longer lists PB as a nigra. Both of the true M. nigras survived the first growing season here in KY, but failed to awaken the next spring, leaving me with just their Russian mulberry understocks, which I've subsequently re-grafted to other more dependable varieties. On another occasion, a friend in CA sent M. nigra scionwood, but I was unsuccessful in grafting it.
While I may never have the opportunity to sample a true M. nigra, I'm quite happy to enjoy the fruits of the M.rubraXalba hybrids like Illinois Everbearing and Silk Hope.
I have encountered some exceptionally tasty M rubra fruits from trees in my boyhood haunts of east-central Alabama... equal in size and flavor, though not in productivity, to the best of the hybrids, and far tastier than any M.alba I've yet encountered.
There is much confusion regarding marketing of 'Black Mulberry' in the nursery trade here in the USA. True black mulberry - Morus nigra - is largely limited to being grown in areas with a Mediterranean climate... it does not fare at all well in the eastern US, as fungal diseases favored by our hot humid summers do it in. Even Dr. Bullard had long ago despaired of growing M. nigra here in the east. But there are many nurseries which advertise 'Black Mulberry' varieties, which are merely black/purple-fruited selections of Morus alba - including 'Persian Black', mentioned in your article.
There are numerous 'everbearing' mulberry varieties which are naturally-occurring hybrids of our native Red mulberry, Morus rubra, and the introduced Morus alba. These hybrids' fruits - while they may never approximate the depth of flavor of a true Morus nigra - have a much deeper flavor profile and better sweet/tart balance than those of M. alba, and are more productive than M. rubra. 'Illinois Everbearing', 'Collier', 'Lawson Dawson', and one of Dr. Bullard's own favorites, 'Silk Hope' are shining examples of these tasty M.rubraXalba hybrids.
There are a number of NAFEX members who have in-hand, and are continuing to propagate, many of Dr. Bullard's selections, including the rescued antebellum mulberry varieties, 'Hicks Everbearing' and 'Stubbs', which were mainstays on southern farmsteads as food sources for poultry and pigs. But, with regard to NAFEX taking conservatorship of Dr. Bullard's collection, I think that is not to have been a possibility.
Thanks Lucky for the Update. The best Morus Nigra Plantings I have seen were in New Mexico. The "English Black" Mulberry grown in the UK and colonial New England was something Bullard said had diverged from the Morus Nigra. He had tried to get cuttings from one of the James I trees still standing in England to test it out, but getting the plant material in the U.S. posed too many legal problems since he was not an academic or governmental breeder. I've alway been curious about the Stubbs wondering whether it was truly a natural hybrid, or a strain of rubra with particularly prolific fruiting.
I have Hicks growing here, but have not seen Stubbs (yet). Some younger NAFEX members had wanted to re-name Hicks after Dr. Bullard, after he helped them find some of the last surviving Hicks trees so that they could propagate it. He declined that tribute - principally because of its history - but also due to the fact that while Hicks may be quite productive, he did not regard the fruit quality to be all that great - but then, pigs and chickens are not noted for their discerning palates.
At the behest of my wife who has had the opportunity to eat M. nigra fruits while in Spain, I've tried to grow it here on a couple of occasions, despite Dr. Bullard's caution that I was not likely to succeed. Some years back, I purchased grafted specimens of Noir de Spain, James II, and Persian Black from Lucille Whitman - at that time, she was listing all as M. nigra, but no longer lists PB as a nigra. Both of the true M. nigras survived the first growing season here in KY, but failed to awaken the next spring, leaving me with just their Russian mulberry understocks, which I've subsequently re-grafted to other more dependable varieties. On another occasion, a friend in CA sent M. nigra scionwood, but I was unsuccessful in grafting it.
While I may never have the opportunity to sample a true M. nigra, I'm quite happy to enjoy the fruits of the M.rubraXalba hybrids like Illinois Everbearing and Silk Hope.
I have encountered some exceptionally tasty M rubra fruits from trees in my boyhood haunts of east-central Alabama... equal in size and flavor, though not in productivity, to the best of the hybrids, and far tastier than any M.alba I've yet encountered.