Paper mulberry

This species is a deciduous shrub or tree usually growing 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall, but known to reach 35 m (115 ft) at times. The leaves are variable in shape, even on one individual. The blades may be lobed or unlobed, but they usually have toothed edges, lightly hairy, pale undersides, and a rough texture. They are up to about 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long. The species has male and female flowers on separate plants. The staminate inflorescence is a catkin up to 8 cm (3.1 in) long with fuzzy male flowers. The pistillate inflorescence is a spherical head up to about 2 cm (0.79 in) wide with greenish female flowers trailing long styles. The infructescence is a spherical cluster 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) wide containing many red or orange fruits. Each individual protruding fruit in the cluster is a drupe.

This plant has been cultivated in Asia and some Pacific Islands for many centuries for food, fiber, and medicine.

Barkcloth. Paper mulberry was the principal source of barkcloth, known as tapa in most Polynesian languages. Although barkcloth was also be made from members of Moraceae family, including Ficus (figs) and Artocarpus, and was occasionally made from Pipturus nettles, especially in Hawaii, the highest quality was made from paper mulberry. Among ancient Austronesians, barkcloth was a primary clothing material produced with stone or wooden beaters, which are among the most common artifacts found in Austronesian archaeological sites. Early examples from the Dingmo site in Guangxi, dated to around (c. 7,900 BP) and numerous finds in southern China, especially around the Pearl River Delta, have been cited as evidence for pre-Taiwan Austronesian homelands prior to the southward expansion of the Han dynasty. …