Mulberry red or white or does it matter

[Slipper]

Is there a way to tell species from the cut staves? I have few with bark remaining. Was cut in lowlands in SE AL. Does one outperform the other?
Thank you

[gutpile]

Ive used red.. build 1/4 bigger than osage or it will chrysal..Id go 2' limb to mid then taper... if going heavy... I have no experience in white mulberry... gut

[Pat B]

I've only used red and it is an excellent bow wood. The mulberry's I've used has had thick growth rings.

[Limbit]

Both are god bow wood. I'd say red is a bit better due to the regular ring layout it has. Red seems to have more clear contrast of rings. The rings on the white stuff jump up and down between the sap and heartwood and the red is darker colour usually than the white mulberry. Besides that, I noticed the white stuff tends to like to move around a bit more while drying and it is important to be sure it is fully seasoned before using it. Both take compression and tension incredibly well and a ring or two of the sapwood can be used as the back like yew if desired. Takes heat well. Nice and light in weight too.

[Badger]

  I have always used white with the sapwood mostly intact simply because my staves were always too small to remove the sapwood. I prefer the red but have had equally good luck with the white

[Pat B]

I've made all heartwood, all sap wood, 50/50 and heartwood with as ring or 2 on the back. All worked well but the more sapwood the thicker the limbs will be.

[ohma2]

Red mullberry is good stuff,as said both work well.

[gutpile]

also when chasing mulberry red ring..it is sometimes hard to distinguish early and late wood ... lighting and wetting stave helps to see early wood better... JM2C...gut

[Slipper]

Thank you all.
I think Ive got some good stuff.
De-barked and split some, left a few w/ bark.
The rings are very uniform/concentric.

[Slipper]

Is there a reason to use sap-wood or is it cosmetic preference?

[Pat B]

Read my post above.  Sapwood is not just cosmetic.

[Slipper]

More sap = thicker limbs
I don’t understand if that is good or bad.
Thicker seems it would rob performance.

[Pat B]

A mulberry bow with sapwood left on will probably shoot slightly slower. To what degree I never measured. All the mulberry bows I've made all shoot well.