Eperfa - Morus

Eperfa. Az eperfa (a Dunántúlon szederfa), latinul Morus, egyfelől az eperfafélék családjának Moreae nemzetségcsoportjába tartozó növénynemzetség, melybe mintegy 100 faj tartozik, másfelől két, e nemzetségbe tartozó, Magyarországon is gyakori fafaj hétköznapi elnevezése. Mindkét faj Európa legnagyobb részén elterjedt. A fehér eperfa (Morus alba) Kínából, a fekete eperfa (Morus nigra) feltehetően Közép-Ázsiából származik. Régebben mindkettő az egész országban, majd minden parasztháznál megtalálható volt, manapság (különösen városi környezetben, hulló termése miatt) kevésbé népszerű. Termése a faeper vagy eper. Az eperfát egyes vidékeken szederfaként ismerik, gyümölcsét pedig szedernek mondják annak ellenére, hogy a szeder valójában a rózsafélék családjába tartozó, 2-3 méter magasra növő cserjeféle. (https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eperfa)

Morus nigra. Morus nigra is a deciduous Tree growing to 10 m (32ft) by 15 m (49ft) at a slow rate.
It is hardy to zone (UK) 5. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from Aug to September. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant)The plant is self-fertile. (http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Morus+nigra)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Illustration_Morus_nigra0.jpg

Morus alba. Morus alba is a deciduous Tree growing to 18 m (59ft) by 10 m (32ft) at a medium rate.  It is hardy to zone (UK) 4. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen from Jul to August. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant)The plant is self-fertile. (http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Morus+alba)

https://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/moralb_branch01.jpg

Dyeing with mulberries.  Berries, however, are usually what they call “fugitive” dyes, meaning they don’t hold to the fiber and tend to fade or wash away. So I prepared for that possible disappointment in the back of my mind. Although I have been reading up a bit about the science of dyeing, mordants, modifiers, PH and what not, I still like going with my gut. This time I stuck with my familiar route (what can I say? I’m a Taurus) of alum and cream of tartar as a mordant. Then did an after bath with vinegar. Whatever I did, it worked! I will say I used a lot of material in ratio to the fiber so that probably aided in the dark color. I’ll also admit, after I took these photos I realized they aren’t perfectly accurate. It was very hard to capture the color—it’s not so shiny looking, a bit darker and more of a greenish gray with a purple-y brown through it. (http://www.lieslmade.com/blog/2014/07/11/dyeing-mulberries-2)

http://www.lieslmade.com/blog/2014/07/11/dyeing-mulberries-2

Dioecious or monoecious? Mulberry trees are either dioecious or monoecious, and sometimes will change from one sex to another. The flowers are held on short, green, pendulous, nondescript catkins that appear in the axils of the current season's growth and on spurs on older wood. They are wind pollinated and some cultivars will set fruit without any pollination. Cross-pollination is not necessary. In California mulberries set fruit without pollination. (https://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/mulberry.html)
Individual trees are usually dioecious, producing either all male (staminate) florets or all female (pistillate) florets in the form of drooping catkins. Less often, White Mulberry is monoecious, producing both male and female florets on the same tree. (http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/wh_mulberry.htm)

Propagating mulberries from seed. Mulberries have been one of my favorite trees for a long time. I have always been so amazed at how much fruit they are capable of producing. I love that the fruit can leave a purple stain on fingers, mouths, and cars, that it can feed a million birds and still leave huge amounts of delicious berries for the rest of us. After a lifetime of generously dropping copious amounts of fruit from the sky, a mulberry tree will leave behind a trunk of beautiful rot resistant wood. I am intrigued by the commercial possibilities of this tree, from dried fruit to jam to poultry feed. And, I am totally amazed that mulberry trees are not widely available at nurseries along with apples and peaches. When I first tried to buy a mulberry tree, I could not find one anywhere locally, so I decided to grow my own. That was 7 years ago, and I have grown thousands since. (http://www.twisted-tree.net/propagating-mulberry-trees/)

Mulberry tea. Mulberry, a plant that grows in China, Korea and Japan, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, in particular as an herbal tea. Mulberry leaf tea's health benefits are attributed to its naturally occurring compound, 1-deoxynojirimycin, or DNJ. DNJ is responsible for mulberry's antidiabetic effects, which have been studied extensively. Mulberry leaf tea also has powerful antioxidant properties and has been found to lower cholesterol and triglycerides and reduce inflammation. (http://www.livestrong.com/article/265868-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-mulberry-leaf-tea/)

Mulberry matcha. Grown without chemical-based pesticides or fertilizers, the mulberry leaves used for kuwacha matcha tea are ground into fine powder like traditional matcha tea powder. (http://shoptohoku.com/product/kuwacha-mulberry-tea-powder/)

http://shoptohoku.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ict001-kuwacha-powder05.jpg