African Mulberry

mesozygia: from meso-, middle and -zygon, joined (Gr); possibly referring to the fact that the segments or syncarps of the fruit are only partially joined, compared to the more compact and completely joined syncarps in the cultivated mulberry.

Medium-sized to large, spreading deciduous tree with white latex. Leaves ovate or elliptic, thinly textured, 5-15 cm long, glossy dark green above dull and paler below, hairless, distinctly 3-veined from the base, prominent on both surfaces; apex tapering into a long narrow driptip; margin serrate or dentate, mainly in the apical half. Inflorescences axillary, unisexual on different trees; male flowers in spikes; female flowers in rounded heads. Fruit a subglobose cluster of small berry-like syncarps, c. 1.5 cm in diameter, pale green when ripe.

From Senegal to Ethiopia and South to Angola, Zambia and KwaZulu-Natal, S Africa.

Afromorus mesozygia, known as black mulberry or African mulberry, is the only species in the genus Afromorus. The plant is a small- to medium-sized forest tree of Tropical Africa. Its leaves and fruit provide food for the mantled guereza, a colobus monkey native to much of Tropical Africa, and for the common chimpanzee of West and Central Africa. It is also a commercial hardwood.

The trees can be found in Ngogo in Kibale National Park in Uganda, where they are a food source for chimpanzees.