Introduction to mulberry branch

Mulberry branch is the general name of mulberry branches, leaves, twigs, twigs and tender twigs. Deciduous shrub or small tree, 3-15m high. The bark is gray white, with strip-shaped lobes; The root bark is yellowish brown or reddish yellow with strong fiber. Single leaf alternate; Petiole length 1-2.5cm; Leaves ovate or broadly ovate, 5-20cm long and 4-10cm wide, apex acute or acuminate, base rounded or subcordate, margin coarsely serrated or crenate, sometimes irregularly divided, glabrous above, short hairs on lower veins, hairs between axils, 3 basal veins interwoven with veinlets to form a network, and the back is obvious; Stipules lanceolate, caducous.

Introduction to mulberry branch

Mulberry branch, the twigs of mulberry, a deciduous mulberry tree, is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. According to traditional Chinese medicine, mulberry twigs are bitter and smooth in nature. They enter the liver meridian and have the effect of eliminating wind and dredging collaterals. They are often used for rheumatic joint pain and limb contracture, especially for upper limb paralysis. Mulberry twig also has antibacterial effect, can improve lymphocyte transformation rate, is effective in the treatment of chronic brucellosis, and has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure. 

Morphological characteristics of mulberry branches

Mulberry branches are trees or shrubs, 3-10 meters high or higher, up to 50 cm in diameter at breast height, with thick gray bark and irregular shallow longitudinal cracks; The winter buds are reddish brown, ovate, and the bud scales are covered with tiles, grayish brown, with fine hairs; Branchlets with fine hairs. Leaves ovate or broadly ovate, 5-15 cm long and 5-12 cm wide, apex acute, acuminate or obtuse, base rounded to shallow heart-shaped, margin serrated coarsely blunt, sometimes leaves divided into various types, surface bright green, glabrous, back sparsely hairy along veins, and cluster hairs in vein axils; Petiole 1.5-5.5 cm long, pilose; Stipules lanceolate, caducous, densely covered with fine bristles outside.

Flowers unisexual, axillary or in the axil of bud scales, growing simultaneously with leaves; Male inflorescence pendulous, 2-3.5 cm long, densely white pilose, male flowers. Perianth segments broadly elliptic, pale green. Filaments inflexed in bud, anthers 2-loculed, globose to reniform, longitudinally divided; Female inflorescence is 1-2 cm long, hairy, total pedicel is 5-10 mm long, pilose, female flowers sessile, perianth segments obovate, the top is blunt, the outside and edge are hairy, both sides cling to the ovary, no style, stigma is 2-lobed, and there are papillary processes on the inner surface. The fig is ovate elliptic, 1-2.5 cm long, red or dark purple when mature. The flowering period is from April to may, and the fruiting period is from May to August.

Mulberry branch distribution

This species is native to central and Northern China, and is now cultivated from northeast to southwest provinces and regions, and from northwest to Xinjiang. It is also cultivated in North Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Central Asian countries, Russia, Europe, India and Vietnam.