paper mulberry, tapa cloth tree

This plant has been cultivated in Asia and some Pacific Islands for many centuries for food, fiber, and medicine. It is a significant fiber crop in the history of paper. It was used for papermaking in China by around 100 AD. It was used to make washi in Japan by 600 AD. Washi, a Japanese handcrafted paper, is made with the inner bark, which is pounded and mixed with water to produce a paste, which is dried into sheets. In Korea, the paper made from the mulberry bush is called Hanji (한지)