Upright black mulberry at the wine press house St. Gertrude Abbey

The black mulberry (Morus nigra) is located at the corner of Wijnpersstraat and Donkerstraat, a few meters south of the monument-protected Wijnpershuis of the Sint-Gertrudis Abbey in Leuven (Royal Decree of March 25, 1938), which is now the Provincial School for Vegetable and Horticulture. This wine press was built in 1551 to replace an older, dilapidated pressing house. The trunk circumference of this tree varies from 2.76 meters (measured at 0.10 meters height) to 2.44 meters (measured at 1.50 meters height). The maximum crown diameter is 17 meters (recorded in 2009). Due to its large dimensions, this tree is an important landmark in the area. Based on the trunk circumference, it can be assumed that this tree is one of the oldest specimens in the region. The black mulberry displays the typical habitus of the species, namely the tendency to lay down at an older age, and has a representative growth form for the species. It forms a historical unity with the protected Wijnpershuis, to which it leans. Furthermore, this tree is one of the few remnants of the original plant collection of the Provincial School of Vegetable Cultivation.

Onroerend Erfgoed Vlaanderen