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Broussonetia papyrifera
Also called Tapa Cloth Tree, Wauke, Aute
Paper mulberry is a fast-growing deciduous tree from East and Southeast Asia, grown for its fiber-rich inner bark used in barkcloth and paper. It thrives in open, sunny sites and tolerates a wide range of conditions, but it is invasive in many regions.
The paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera, syn. Morus papyrifera L.) is a species of flowering tree in the family Moraceae. It is native to East and Southeast Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar and Taiwan. It is widely cultivated elsewhere as an introduced species in New Zealand, parts of Europe, the United States, and Africa. The tree is valued for its versatile uses. Its inner bark is traditionally processed into barkcloth and is also an important raw material in papermaking.
Other common names include aute and tapa cloth tree. The specific Latin epithet papyrifera describes the use of its barks for papermaking.
This plant has been cultivated in Asia and some Pacific Islands for many centuries for food, fiber, and medicine.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Paper mulberry by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
