Thanks to a student of mine, Tom Marcantonio, I gained an appreciation of this common temperate North American tree. Tom had learned of the use of its inner bark for cordage, and was using stakes, and cordage made from the tree to support his plants.

Tilia americana, also known as Basswood, and American Linden, is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8, making it a common feature on the landscape. It does well on deep, well-drained soils, but it can handle dry or heavy soils. Left alone, it could grow to 21 meters (70 feet).

Its a useful winter browse for deer, and its buds are food for birds. The summer fruits are eaten by birds, squirrels, and mice. Older trees tend to rot out in the center, leaving habitat for animals. Its nectar makes it a good bee fodder. However, it does have the tendency to attract pests; among these are borers, aphids, leafminers, scale, and Japanese beetles. As we say, however, the problem is the solution. This tendency might make it a useful tool in a push-pull integrated pest management regime. If anyone has tried this, please let us know how it went.

The soft wood does not splinter easily, making it a good wood for carving. Its ability to coppice makes it all the more appealing. To make cord, soak branches, then peel off the bark. The inner bark is the part then made into cord.

The sap has traditionally been boiled to make syrup, or taken as a drink. Young leaves can be cooked and eaten as well.  The nuts and flowers can be ground into a paste that is said to have a chocolate taste. I’d love to test the truth of this claim. The flowers can be put in salads, or brewed into a tea. I have seen one recommendation cautioning moderation in drinking the flower tea as it could cause heart damage. I think this warning stems from the β-Sitosterol it contains. For this reason, it is probably best for pregnant women to avoid altogether. The flowers do have a whole host of interesting chemicals in them, including but not limited to bioquercitrin, which helps regulates cell growth. Recent research suggests that T. americana can be used as an anti-anxiety treatment.

There are a few places I could use this tree on my site as part of a shelter belt. Though I have seen no mention of its use as a fodder tree, I would imagine it could be used as such. I suspect it would work well in a silvopasture setup.  Its many fine properties make it an appealing candidate that I am sure to utilize.

Though it is in the legume family, S. Siamea is not a nitrogen-fixing tree. It is a tropical plant not tolerating temperatures below 20°C well. It will establish in semiarid areas with rainfall as low as 500mm per year, provided there are droughts no longer than 4 to 6 months, and that the roots have access to groundwater. According to Jeff Nugent and Julia Boniface, a good companion tree is Acacia pendula.

Despite its lack of nitrogen-fixing ability, and despite its broad, shallow roots, it is often used in alley cropping. It is a robust coppicer, and will produce a great amount of biomass, yielding up to 500 kg of fresh leaves a year. This production helps it work as a soil conditioner when used as a green manure. Their presence also helps with water infiltration, reducing run-off when planted densely.

S. siamea is is often grown in the service of Santalum species (sandal wood) — usually S. album – which are parasitic trees, tapping into the roots of other plants for water and nutrients. In China, it is used as a host for the lac bug, which is used to produce shellac.

It makes a good fodder for ruminants, but the toxicity of the alkaloids in the plant make it an ill-advised feed for poultry, pigs, and other non-ruminants. Ruminants only, please.

The young leaves and flower buds are boiled two or three times to remove the bitterness and toxicity of the above mentioned alkaloids, and added to curries. It has traditional medical uses that are now discouraged due to the toxicity of the active compound barakol. Still, there is research suggesting anti-cancer properties in S. siamea.

The wood is resistant to termites, and is hard and durable. It also makes an excellent firewood, and charcoal.

This month, we’ll take a look at the white mulberry, Morus alba. In the Species of the Month series, we’ve looked at some truly amazing plants and fungi. I thought I would make it easy on myself by doing a “simple” tree. Well, I thought wrong. I knew some of the uses of this tree, but as it turns out Morus alba offers many benefits and carries out many different tasks.

First off, this fast-growing tree is useful for controlling erosion. It also provides shade and can act as a windbreak. The leaf litter improves the soil. White mulberry has been adapted to many climates from tropical USDA zone 11 to chilly zone 4. The tree is coppiceable and survives short-rotation coppicing very well – I have seen M. alba thrive on a 2-month coppicing cycle, which is an amazingly short rotation. Mind you, this was in the tropics. Mulberry would not last very long on such a short cycle in temperate climates.

Mulberry can be propagated through coppicing or through seeds. Coppice shoots can be cut and treated with rooting compound or the coppice stool can be covered with soil after the shoots are around 30 cm tall. Left under the soil, the buried part of the shoots will grow roots. The shoot can then be carefully dug out and cut for transplanting. When propagating from seeds, soak the seeds in cold water for 1 week before planting. Mulberries grow best in dry to well-drained soils.

The wood is useful for both construction and woodworking. As a fuel, it will produce from 4370 to 4770 kilocalories of energy per kilogram or around 25.8 million BTUs per cord, making it an excellent fuel tree. In coppice production, it would make a goode fuel tree, provided it were grown in a small-scale operation. The bark from mulberry has its uses. It is used to make high quality paper and can be made into textile.

The leaves can be used for fodder. Ruminants can be fed up to 60% of diet with mulberry fodder. Mulberry also increases milk yields in cows. The leaves are also famously used in sericulture – raising silkworms. For this, mulberry is grown on short rotation; the leaves are chopped and then fed to silkworms.

Mulberry leaves being chopped for silkworms.

Silkworms fed on white mulberry leaves.

Mulberry can also be used as human food. While the young leaves can be eaten, it is the fruit that is sought after. High in vitamin C, iron, calcium and potassium, the berries are very tasty. Unfortunately, the only way to enjoy fresh mulberries is to pick them. Being quite fragile, they do not pack or transport well. Mulberries are used to make jellies, pies, juice and wine.

There are plenty of medicinal uses for mulberry as well. It has antibacterial properties, is used to treat rheumatism, reduces fevers, and helps induce sweating.

The leaves are used to treat insect bites and the cineole content in the leaves makes them useful as an expectorant. The limone in the leaves has antitumor properties. Some research suggests that the leaves could be used to help prevent type II diabetes. The fruit is used to treat upset stomachs and sore throats. And the bark is used to treat stomach aches, neuralgia pain and edema.

If you have the right conditions and the room, a mulberry tree would make an excellent addition to your permaculture garden.