Is a white mulberry common in central Indiana?
White mulberry is one of the 44 species named in Indiana's Terrestrial Plant Rule (312 IAC 18-3-25), making it illegal to sell, gift, barter, transport, or introduce anywhere in the state. It is abundant across central Indiana in fencerows, alleys, and neglected lot edges, and it hybridizes with the native red mulberry (Morus rubra) — red mulberry itself is not regulated, but most volunteer yard mulberries here are white mulberry or a white-by-red hybrid.
Why that matters for tree work
White mulberry is the tree nobody planted — birds drop it into fence lines, foundation gaps, and behind garages, it grows several feet a year, and by the time anyone notices it is a 30-foot tree with brittle limbs staining the driveway purple. It is also item 34 on Indiana's prohibited invasive plant list, so removal is the standard recommendation rather than one option among several.
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