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Ran in to this plant a the supermarket. It was only 3 bucks so I picked it up out of curiosity. I've started growing mulberry trees a while a go and did quite some youtubing and reading about them. Never have I seen or read about a climbing black mulberry. Google gives me 0 hits when searching for one. The picture on the label is definitely a mulberry, the plant in this stage look more like a blackberry to me.

Question: does this exist? can you train them as climbers (what would happen to the trunk size???), or is this a fake?

leaves stems label label back

David
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  • I agree, the leaf is a Blackberry. Morus nigra (Latin name for Black Mulberry) would grow as a tree but the label indicating that Mulberry is a climber is not accurate.Blackberry can grow into a climbing plant but personally in cultivation I would cut the old stems to the ground after fruiting / before new growth starts in Spring, and train the plant on some wires to make the fruit easy to pick, and to have vigorous new canes each season. If the Blackberry pants nearby were labelled "Blackberry" then I reckon a Mulberry label accidentally got onto your plant. – Kristen Apr 03 '19 at 07:17
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    Thanks for the tips. The label was on a whole bunch of them. I'm now starting to think that a reseller or labelling company made a mistake somewhere. – David Apr 04 '19 at 18:42

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I suspect a language problem:

Blackberries (Rubus) are “mûre” in French, “mora” in Spanish and “amora” in Portuguese.

-> which may easily be confused with Morus, the Genus of mulberries.

But of course some prankster may have switched the labels, who knows?

In any case, your plant looks indeed like a blackberry.

Stephie
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  • It was not a prank. Blackberries were right next tot them. And it wasn't just one but a whole batch. The label says it can reach a height of 500cm. – David Apr 01 '19 at 09:53
  • Well, a well-nourished blackberry can produce 5m canes, but I don’t think that’s what’s meant here. – Stephie Apr 01 '19 at 10:21
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    In Italian "Mora" is either Rubus fruit or mulberry). The plant seems a blackberry plant, but the photo on the label is a mulberry (maybe). You see leaves are very different. [but on the labels they seems too much like Ficus, and not Morus]. I assume some confusion on names. "climbing" was probably given to differentiate it to Rubus, by someone who know there was a problem with Rubus/Morus names, but without really idea where the problem were (e.g. an apprentice). Considering the 1 April, a real prank is also possible – Giacomo Catenazzi Apr 01 '19 at 12:42
  • @David: note: label is about Morus, and on the label we do not see "climbing". Maybe you should add a photo of the back side. But your plant is not a Morus. There are no doubts. – Giacomo Catenazzi Apr 01 '19 at 12:43
  • @GiacomoCatenazzi added the back of the label. It says to cut back to old wood when pruning. – David Apr 01 '19 at 16:25
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    I confirm that blackberry can grow 5m stems and you have to regularly cut them. And the leaves look definitely blackberry's. – Daria Apr 01 '19 at 22:10