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Cudrania tricuspidata

Common name:	Silkworm Thorn	Family:	Moraceae
Author:	(Carriè re.)Bur. ex Lav.	Botanical references:	11, 200, 266
Synonyms:	Maclura tricuspidata (Carriè re.), Cudrania triloba (Hance.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China, Japan and Korea.
Habitat:	Rocky slopes and roadsides in W. China[109]. Sunny forest margins and mountain slopes at elevations of 500 - 2200 metres[266].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Che [E], Che Ken Chiu [E], Storehousebush [P,B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	cuspidata = with stiff point tricuspidata = 3 pointed
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Urticales. Mulberry family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 6m by 6m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in flower in July. The flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Secondary, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Fruit Leaves.

Fruit - fresh or preserved[1, 22, 61]. Somewhat like a mulberry[183]. The firm fruit is relatively tasteless, when soft-ripe it is sub-acid to sweet and some forms can be quite delicious[46, 105, 109, 151, 183]. It contains lots of large seeds[151]. The fruit is about 25mm in diameter[200].
Leaves - a famine food[179].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiperiodic Galactogogue Ophthalmic Women's complaints.

An infusion of the wood is used to treat sore or weak eyes[178, 218].
The inner bark and the wood are used in the treatment of malaria, debility and menorrhagia[178, 218].
The root is galactogogue and is also used in the treatment of amenorrhoea[218].
The plant is used to eliminate blood stasis and stimulate the circulation in cancer of the alimentary system, blood and lungs[218].

Other Uses

Dye Fibre Wood.

A yellow dye is obtained from the wood[178].
The bark fibers are used for making paper[266].
Wood - finely grained. Used for utensils[178].

Cultivation details

Prefers a warm well-drained fertile loam[1, 188]. Requires a sunny position[188].
A very hardy plant[1].
The leaves are a food source for silk-worms[1, 11].
Probably only the male tree is in cultivation in Britain, though at least one selected female form is being grown in N. America[183]. Both male and female plants normally need to be grown if fruit or seed is required but male trees occasionally produce a few small fruits[183].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[188]. Sow stored seed in early spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[188, K].
Cuttings of mature wood, November in a sandy soil in a frame[1].

Cultivars

'Male': A small thorny tree that is used mainly as a pollinator for female trees, though it does produce a few fruits occasionally[183].
'Female': The fruit is large and flavourful, ripening in late summer to the autumn[183]. A small thorny tree, it bears heavy crops annually in N. America[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Cudrania triloba (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for the family Moraceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[22] Sholto-Douglas. J. Alternative Foods.
Not very comprehensive, it seems more or less like a copy of earlier writings with little added.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[109] Wilson. E. H. Plantae Wilsonae.
Details of the palnts collected by the plant collector E. H. Wilson on his travels in China. Gives some habitats. Not for the casual reader.

[151] Wilson. E. H. and Trollope. M. N. Corean Flora. Royal Asiatic Society 1918
A very small handbook, it does give a little bit of information on Korean plants.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[179] Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 1977
A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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