NATIVE RANGE: East Asia

PATHWAYS: horticulture

POSSIBLE TO DETECT: year-round

FLOWERING SEASON: April – May

DESCRIPTION: Dioecious, deciduous small tree, some-times a bush. Twigs are stout, initially densely hirsute. Leaves simple and undivided on older trees, but leaves on young plants have deep irregular sinuses. Margins serrated. Leaves are rough above, velvety and grey beneath. Male inflorescence in hanging catkins 6–8 cm long. Female inflorescence greenish, round, about 2 cm in diameter. Fruit is an aggregate of red to orange drupes, up to 3 cm in diameter.

HABITAT: Ruderal sites, roadsides, forest margins and open forests, riparian forests. More common in areas with mild climate.

STATUS: Present in most European countries, wide-spread in France, Spain and Italy. In Slovenia, it is naturalized in the submediterranean part and locally in the central part of the country. Locally invasive along rivers and in the vicinity of inhabited places. 

SIMILAR SPECIES: Common fig (Ficus carica) and white mulberry (Morus alba) have similarly shaped leaves, but these have glabrous, green undersides.

SOURCE: Field Guide to Invasive Alien Species in European Forests