Mulberry Botanical Art

Mulberry
Morus spp.

Women placing silkworms on trays together with mulberry leaves

Fig. 1

Women placing silkworms on trays together with mulberry leaves
Cleveland Museum of Art

Fig. 2

Morus alba L. [as Mulbar]

Fig. 3

Morus alba L. [as Morus alba]

Fig. 4

Morus nigra L.

Fig. 5

Morus nigra L.

Fig. 6

Morus rubra L.

The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms

Fig. 7

The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms
from "The Introduction of the Silkworm" [Vermis Sericus]

Fig. 8

Vincent van Gogh: The Mulberry Tree
Norton Simon Museum 1889

Court ladies producing silk under the supervision of the empress; their tasks include preparing eggs, chopping mulberry leaves, feeding caterpillars and unwinding cocoons. Colour woodcut by Kuniaki II, 1883.

Court ladies producing silk under the supervision of the empress; their tasks include preparing eggs, chopping mulberry leaves, feeding caterpillars and unwinding cocoons. Colour woodcut by Kuniaki II, 1883.

Fig. 9

Court ladies producing silk under the supervision of the empress; their tasks include preparing eggs,
chopping mulberry leaves, feeding caterpillars and unwinding cocoons

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Botanical Art

Fig. ¹ Kai, Liang. "Women placing silkworms on trays together with mulberry leaves." Cleveland Museum of Art, Online collection "The Song Economic Revolution: Textiles and Silk", Cropped from Sericulture: The Process of Making Silk, a Chinese Song dynasty painting, Asia for Educators, Columbia University, c. 1200s, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Women_placing_silkworms_on_trays_together_with_mulberry_leaves_
(Sericulture_by_Liang_Kai,_1200s).jpg. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.
Fig. ² "Morus alba L. [as Mulbar]." Kongliga Vetenskaps-Acadeniens Handlingar, Stockholm, vol. 6: t. 11, Plant Illustrations, plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=364422. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.
Fig. ³ Weinmann, J. W. "Morus alba L. [as Morus alba]." Phytanthoza iconographia, vol. 3: t. 736, fig. a (1742) [unsigned], Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, U.S.A., Plant Illustrations, plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=126735. Accessed 24 Oct. 2017.
Fig. ⁴"Morus nigra L." Kurt Stüber's Online Library, Thomé, O. W., Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz, Tafeln, vol. 2: t. 180, 1885, Plant Illustrations, www.BioLib.de, plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=149233. Accessed 25 Oct.2017.
Fig. ⁵Kirtikar, K. R., B. D.Basu. "Morus nigra L." Indian medicinal plants, Plates, vol. 5: t. 891, fig. B, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C., U.S.A., 1918, Plant Illustrations, plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=163659. Accessed 25 Oct.2017.
Fig. ⁶Peter, A. "Morus rubra L." Botanische Wandtafeln, t. 62, fig. 5, 1901, Stichting Academisch Erfgoed/geheugenvannederland.nl, the Netherlands, Plant Illustrations, plantillustrations.org/illustration.php?id_illustration=324063. Accessed 25 Oct.2017.
Fig. ⁷Karel van Mallery. "The Gathering of Mulberry Leaves and the Feeding of the Silkworms." The Introduction of the Silkworm [Vermis Sericus], ca. 1595, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1950, (CC01.0). metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/659742?sortBy=Relevance&ft=mulberry+leaves&offset=0&rpp=
20&pos=3. Accessed 25 Oct.2017.
Fig. ⁸Razimantv. "Vincent van Gogh: The Mulberry Tree." Norton Simon Museum, J.-B. de la Faille: L'Œuvre de Vincent van Gogh, catalogue raisonné, F637, Oct. 1889, 21 June 2010, Wikimedia Commons, via ml.wikipedia, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Mulberry_Tree_by_Vincent_van_Gogh.jpg. Accessed 16 Mar. 2020.
Fig. ⁸ Utagawa, Kuniaki. "Court ladies producing silk under the supervision of the empress; their tasks include preparing eggs, chopping mulberry leaves, feeding caterpillars and unwinding cocoons." Welcome Collection, Wellcome Library no. 36756i, Colour woodcut by Kuniaki II, 1883, (CC BY 4.0), wellcomecollection.org/works/zc37t833. Accessed 17 Mar. 2020.

Published 24 Oct. 2017 LR. Last update 11 June 2025 LR