THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Mulberry

Lisa Karen Miller

          In 1609, King James I devised a brilliant scheme. If England planted mulberry trees to feed silkworms, they would save the trouble and expense of importing silk from the Orient.  It was indeed an excellent idea.

          Unfortunately, the feasibility study had yet to be invented.

         A little market research would have prevented two serious mistakes.  Firstly, white mulberries, the ones silkworms prefer, do not enjoy the climate of Great Britain. They will grow, but they have to be nurtured carefully to thrive. Secondly, the trees turned out to be black mulberries. They take up to ten years to fruit, so no one noticed the blunder until it was too late.

         Still, the mulberry became an extremely popular ornamental and fruit tree throughout the kingdom.

          Shakespeare mentions the fruit only twice in his plays.  In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titania’s fairies feed them to Nick Bottom.  Coriolanus gives it the barest mention: 

“Humble as the ripest mulberry

That will not hold the handling.”

          Nonetheless, a great furor arose when Shakespeare’s mulberry tree was chopped down in 1758 by Reverend Gastrell, who then owned the Bard’s house and gardens.  There were riots in the town, so the good rev wisely high-tailed it to parts unknown.

          An enterprising carpenter took the remaining timber and made snuff boxes, goblets, and caskets.  More of these survive than could possibly be genuine, but they are at least of mulberry.

          Mulberries do not bud until danger of frost has passed, so they symbolize patience. They then bud so rapidly that it appears to happen overnight, so they also represent expediency and wisdom.

          German folklore has it that the fruits are associated with evil, and the Devil uses the roots to polish his boots.         

          A medical text written by a Japanese Buddhist monk in 1211 C.E. claims that mulberry is excellent for those who suffer from thirst.  This has since been more specifically defined as those who thirst because they are diabetic. Researchers have now shown that the juice and a fruit extract are indeed hypoglycemic agents.

          For the Chinese, the sun bird lives in the eastern sea, atop a mulberry tree. This divine tree links Earth with the eastern heaven. It is also the symbol of the archer, Sagittarius, because Emperor Huang Di made the first bow to slay the tiger that had chased him into a mulberry tree.

          If you ever have trouble visualizing the enormity of China, consider this:  of 1.4 billion people, over ten million are silk farmers.

          Kentucky’s entire population is 4.5 million.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller