The references to mulberry in the Scriptures are all controversial. However, Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) on the basis of cognate words in Sumerian (messikanu, sukannu) confidently associates the Hebrew word mesukan in Isaiah 40:20 with the mulberry tree, as did Thompson before him. Further, they take the Greek word sucaminos in Luke 17:6 as also cognate with Sumerian sukannu. Like the apple, the pomegranate, the fig and the pistachio, the Black Mulberry Morus nigra may have been introduced into the Holy Land from one of the neighboring countries like Persia (now Iran).

The black mulberry is a large, broad tree (6 meters [20 feet] high) that produces flowers and leaves in spring and loses its leaves every year in winter. The crown is broad and low. The trunk gets twisted as it grows old and may rot away, only to be replaced by another one from the same root. People pile stones up in order to support the low branches of old trees. The leaves are stiff, rough, and hairy. The flowers are pollinated by the wind, and the fruit is a rather tart, black berry about the size of a large cashew nut. In Europe and North America, people use mulberries mostly to make pies and wine. A different species, the white mulberry, has a whitish fruit.

The black mulberry tree is similar in size and shape to the sycomore fig. In fact, the translators of the Greek Septuagint introduced considerable confusion by translating the Hebrew word shiqmah as sucaminos (1 Kings 10:27 et al.)

There are at least eighteen subspecies of mulberry in the world, distributed from China to North America. In the Middle East area two have been cultivated, the black mulberry and the white mulberry. The black mulberry grows well in what is now Iran, and it may have been introduced into Canaan from there. In areas where the mulberry tree is found, the local name should be used in Luke 17:6. Where it is not found (for example, most of Africa), transliteration from a major language is advised, for example, muluberi or sikamayin. (French mûrier, Spanish mora, Portuguese amoreira, Arabic tut).

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also mulberry tree.