Contorted Mulberry, (Chinese name: Long zhao sang)                        MO-rus AL-ba

• Deciduous shrub/tree, rapid growing, zigzag, contorted branches, to 30 x 40 ft, can easily be pruned to limit size.  Leaves light green, glossy, 15-18 cm long; yellow in fall.  Fruit white, 1.5-2 cm long, ripens to pink or purple-violet.
• Sun to light shade, adaptable.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5    Originated in Japan.
• There is a great deal of confusion about the species of Morus to which ‘Unryu’, the Contorted Mulberry, is linked.  Some list it as M. bombycis ‘Unryu’, however the RHS Dictionary of Gardening equates M. bombycis with M. alba, and indeed some authorities (e.g., Missouri Botanical Garden) use the name M. alba ‘Unryu’, and some equate this name with M. alba ‘Tortuosa’.  Contorted Mulberry is also listed as M. australis ‘Unryu’.
• Unryu: apparently means twisted in Japanese (Jacobson, 1996).
• Oregon State Univ., North Willamette Research and Extension Center, Aurora.