Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia kazinoki Sieb.)

Abstract

Paper mulberry (Broussonetia kazinoki Sieb.) is a temperate deciduous woody plant which grows in countries of Eastern Asia such as China, Korea and Japan, and reaches more than 3 m in height when mature (Fig. 1). It is a member of the family Moraceae, which includes Morus, Ficus, Cannabis etc. It particularly resembles mulberry (Morus species) in morphological appearance such as leaf, flower and stem shape, and has long served as a raw material for producing paper in Japan, with such fibre plants as Wikstroemia sikokiana Franch. et Sav. and Edgeworthia papyrifera Sieb. et Zucc. The common name paper mulberry is derived from these facts. As paper manufactured from the stripped bark of B. kazinoki (so-called Japanese paper) has its own texture together with remarkable toughness, and is in some other qualities superior to European paper, it has been mainly employed for making currency notes, tracing paper and for traditional arts and crafts. Since the production of paper has unfortunately decreased recently in Japan, B. kazinoki is now being cultivated by quite a limited number of farmers. No systematic breeding of B. kazinoki has been programmed and only a few locally selected strains which adapt to climate and soil conditions in every district are identified. It can be propagated by any method of grafting, cutting and layering, although propagules are practically obtained by simply harvesting suckers emerging on the ground around the tree in spring.KeywordsColony FormationHypocotyl SegmentPaper MulberryLycopersicon SpeciesLeaf Mesophyll ProtoplastThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.