Broad-crowned tree to about 12 m tall. Young shoots soft hairy becoming hairless. Leaves simple, ovate mostly 10-20 cm long, 8-12 cm wide but occasionally smaller; tip pointed, base more or less heart-shaped; margin varying from irregularly toothed to deeply 3-5 lobed, cut almost halfway to midrib, hairs in the leaf axils below; bright green and slightly rough above, paler below and hairless except occasionally on the veins; bright yellow in autumn. Leaf stalk 2-3 cm long, hairy, grooved. Flowers in spring at the same time as the leaves. Male flowers in short green catkins. Female flowers much shorter. Fruit, the mulberry, like a large raspberry, varying from pink to reddish purple or black when mature, edible.

C Asia to China

The leaves are a famous source of food for silkworms.

ACT: Deakin (Buxton St). NSW: common in coastal areas. VIC: Churchill Island Homestead (planted c. 1890); Melbourne (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Melbourne Gardens), entrance to nursery yard); Tahbilk (near Nagambie, Chateau Tahbilk, avenue of 176 trees planted 1880s);Williamstown (Williamstown Botanic Gardens).

var. multicaulis (Perr.) Loud. is a multistemmed shrub with the fruits almost black.

Source: Spencer, R. (1997). Moraceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.