Native Mulberry, White Nettle
Pipturus argenteus

Family: Urticaceae

What it is like

A small tree up to 4-8 m tall. It spreads 4-8 m across. Young growth is silvery grey. The bark is grey to brown and has rows of small swellings along it. The leaves are alternate. They are 7-26 cm long by 2-8 cm wide. The leaves are green on top and woolly white underneath. They have fine to coarse teeth along the edges. They have a long stalk and 3 prominent veins. Plants are separately male and female. The flowers are greenish white. They occur in small round clusters. These form spikes about 6 cm long. They grow on older wood. The fruit are fleshy and like a mulberry. They are 0.6 cm across and white. They have many small seeds. They are edible.

There are about (13) 40-50 Pipturus species. They grow in the tropics.

Where it is found

A tropical plant but can grow in temperate areas. It is damaged by frost. It grows in forests and areas that are not too dry. It occurs from the coast up to at least 1800 m altitude in Papua New Guinea. It is frequent on rocky cliffs near the sea in the Pacific.

Countries/locations it is found in

American Samoa, Australia, British Indian Ocean Terr., BIOT, Cambodia, Caroline Islands, Cook Islands, East Timor, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Indochina, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar, Niue, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rotuma, Samoa, SE Asia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Yap

How it is used for food

The bark and leaves are eaten. The ripe fruit is also recorded as eaten. The seeds are eaten by children in Tokelau.

A minor edible leaf and fruit. It is eaten especially by children.

Edible parts

Fruit, bark, leaves, seeds

How it is grown

It grows wild. Plants can be grown from fresh seed or cuttings of firm semi-hard wood.

It grows quickly.

Its other names

Local names

Adomai, Amahadyan, Armwe, Aroma, Fau soga, Guruwel, Koomeroo-Koomeroo, Odoma, Oleiulakerasus, Ormuh, Soga, Te aroma, Tupwpwunuwen, Yaroma

Synonyms

Boehmeria propinqua Decne; Pipturus argenteus var. calcicolus Domin; Pipturus propinquus (Decne.) Wedd.; Urtica argentea G. Forst.;