I have heard that Che which is not a mulberry but Cudrania that is in moraceae family is compatible with Osage orange. Mulberry same family would be interesting to see if it works. Best of luck to yeah Kevin.
Scott R Here is more information on the Che Osage Orange Hybrid since brought up
(I happen to see saved in my Email so I thought I'd post)
I got the Hedge apple (Osage orange) seed packet out (or will be shipping from Miami instead)
these trees they are huge
(quote from Below link)
https://www.cirrusimage.com/tree_Osage_Silk_Thorn/http://www.cirrusimage.com/trees!toc.htmThe only known hybrid of the Osage Orange tree, Maclura pomifera, x Macludrania hybrida André, is an intergeneric cross: x Macludrania = Cudrania x Maclura. Cudrania tricuspidata (Carr.) Bureau is a spiny shrub or small tree, native to China, Japan, and Korea. The Maclura parent is variety inermis. The hybrid is a small tree with yellowish furrowed bark and short, woody spines. [1]
Like the closely related Mulberry, the silkworm thorn fruit is not a true berry, but a collective. Much larger than mulberries, the Che fruit can be up to 2 inches in diameter. The ripe fruits are deep red, containing juicy flesh and small brown seeds. Nearly tasteless when young, they can develop into a delicious, sugary fruit. Sold locally in markets in China and elsewhere in east Asia, the fruit attracts little commercial interest elsewhere. The fruit can stain roofs, driveways or sidewalks, hence the tree should be placed in and isolated location in full sun. [2]
Shrubs or small trees, 1-7 m tall, deciduous. Bark grayish brown. Branchlets slightly ridged, glabrous; spines 0.5-2 cm. Winter buds reddish brown. Petiole 1-2 cm, sparsely pubescent; leaf blade ovate to rhombic-ovate, occasionally 3-lobed, 5-14 × 3-6 cm, abaxially greenish white and glabrous or sparsely pubescent, adaxially deep green and glabrous, base rounded to cuneate, margin entire, apex acuminate; secondary veins 4-6 on each side of midvein, tertiary veins reticulate. Inflorescences axillary, single or in pairs. Male inflorescences capitulate, ca. 5 mm in diam.; peduncle shorter than capitulum. Female inflorescences 1-1.5 cm in diam., axillary; peduncle short. Male flowers: calyx lobes fleshy, margin revolute, apex thick; pistillode pyramidal. Female flowers: calyx lobes with margin revolute, apically shield-shaped; ovary immersed in lower part of calyx. Fruiting syncarp orange red when mature, ± globose, ca. 2.5 cm in diam. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul.
Sunny forest margins, mountain slopes; 500-2200 m. Anhui, Fujian, SE Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, S Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Japan (cultivated), Korea].
The bark fibers are used for making paper, the leaves are used as food for silkworms, the fruit are edible, and the bark is used medicinally. [3]
QUOTE EATTHEWEEDS
QUOTE
Incidentally an intergeneric hybrid exist between
Che (Cudrania tricuspidata) and Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) called Macludrania hybrida.
Mostly from France they were planted in the
US National Arboretum in 1960