Mulberry not poisonous, but messy

Q. Is this plant poisonous to dogs?

The berries look like wild raspberries, but they are growing on what appears to be more of a tree rather than a bush.

The planting belongs to our neighbor and borders our driveway.

Susan from Youngstown

A. I have received lots of questions and comments related to this tree (Susan sent in a photo). It is a mulberry, and the fruit is edible.

Mulberry trees are fairly common in our area.

It is actually a native tree.

Two of our urban farmers were excited to realize they had red mulberry trees near their garden, as the fruit is a marketable crop.

The ripe fruit of this tree is really quite tasty.

It is compared to something between a raspberry and a blackberry.

It is good eaten fresh, but is often made into jam because so many of them ripen at once.

Fruit must be harvested as soon as it is ripe, or the birds will clean the tree of all fruit.

And they will leave behind purple droppings instead of white – staining concrete and other items around the home.

Mulberry trees have unique leaves. One tree can bear three kinds of leaves — an entire leaf, a mitten type and three-lobed leaves.

This is an easy way to identify the tree when fruit is not present.

The tree is usually around 20 feet in height, but it is also common to get much taller — up to 60 feet.

More information is available at http://go.osu.edu/mulberry.

Eric Barrett is the Ohio State University Extension Educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Mahoning County. Call the office hotline at 330-533-5538 on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon to submit your questions.