For the historians, there is still a controversy regarding the origin and time of the first introduction of mulberry in Italy. Most agree that the two main species of mulberry, the Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) and White Mulberry (M. alba) come from Asia, the first one from Persia and the second one from the Far East. It seems, however, that was M. nigra the first being adapted and cultivated for its fruits, not only for food but also medicinal purposes, by Greeks and Romans. During the first Century D.C., Plinio highlighted its importance from the pharmaceutical and cosmetics points of view, while two centuries later, Palladio provided the earliest information on its cultivation (Bertelli Bargamaschi, 1994).

There are not any precise references on the dates of the introduction and expansion of the White Mulberry in Europe. It is the frequent opinion of the academics, that the mulberry present in Western Europe from the old times to the early Mediaeval times was M. nigra, and that M. alba was introduced in Italy with sericulture, and thus between the IX and the XII Centuries. The first clear and unequivocal declaration of the presence of M. alba in Italy comes from Pescia, where in 1434 Francesco Bonvicino, upon his return from the Orient, showed some plants which he had brought along (Bertelli Bargamaschi, 1994).

The real development, in Italy and in Europe, of the mulberry cultivation with M. alba was determined to its link with sericulture, which made the cultivation of mulberry not only relevant, but also generalised in the territory of the peninsula and in few other European states (Greece, France and Spain).

Both the experiences attained during the curse of the centuries in when mulberry cultivation was practised and the most recent technical and scientific information indicate that mulberry is a rustic plant, which in Italy grows well in the flat lands, in the hills and in the mountains, up to the limit of the region of the chestnut tree. The best zones are the hills and sunny flat highlands. The best vegetative development is achieved in fertile lands with discrete water sources, but mulberry also grows well in calcaric soils with good water availability. The plant prefers the temperate climate over colder areas, but it can be cultivated in hot regions next to the sea or the mountains that have a mitigating effect on the high temperatures. This is why mulberry plantations should be in well-exposed lands.

Despite the close interdependency of the silkworm and the mulberry, this plant in Italy, has never received much scientific interest. It has been recently written: ".....it is regrettable that about a plant which has for long, long time determined the Italian agricultural landscape there is not still a systematic study which follows its evolution in time" (Zanier, 1998).

The mulberry currently cultivated for its leaves to feed the Bombyx mori, is mostly M. alba, with its various varieties and spontaneous hybrids. Some of these have been present in the territory for a long time, other are more recently (from the 30's to 50"s) imported from the Far East (Japan in particular). If the few hectares of specialised mulberry (formed basically by selected varieties), the plants disseminated among the various regions o Italy re above all the remains of the previous sericultural activity, high trunk plants, isolated or aligned along fences and roads. There are either plants definitely "wild", thus derived from spontaneous hybridisation, or selected M. alba varieties reproduced by stakes. Often the same varieties are called different local names depending on the location, which does not help in the taxonomic classification, which adds to the lack of homogeneity in the systematic classification at international level. For example, varieties belonging to the M. multicaulis (Rangaswami et al., 1976) like the Kokuso 20,21 and 70, are describes as belonging to the species M. latifolia by other authors (Machii et al., 1999).

In Italy, the most important germplasm collection of the Morus genus is found at the Sericulture Section of Padova of the Livestock Experimental Institute (Sezione Specializzata per la Bachicoltura de Padova, Istituto Sperimentale per la Zoologia Agraria) from the Ministry for Agrarian and Forestry Policies. It includes the varieties acclimatised for long time in Italy and those, already mentioned, imported in the 30's and 50's. Table 1 contains a detailed list of these varieties.

Recently within the project "New technologies for the re-launching of Italian sericulture", financed by the Ministry for Agrarian and Forestry Policies, some of these varieties are being studies for their phenotypic characters, for their genetic characters (using the R.A.P.D. technique) and for the productive and quality profile, with leaf analysis during various times of the year and different environments (North and South of Italy). Of all this research will be published soon.

In addition, the Sericulture Section of Padova in collaboration with the Department of Animal Biology and Genetics of the University of Florence and other research units, is preparing a project about "multi-use of mulberry", in order to examine the possibilities of taking advantage of the plant for other uses besides feeding the silkworm, inclusive for the point of view of animal husbandry, for wood, for fruit, for the food and pharmaceutical industries, for landscaping and reforestation. Within the scope of this project, it should be a systematic work on germplasm collection from the wild states in the various Italian regions, on genetic analysis and of multiplication of the most interesting genotypes. This work will start as soon as the financing is assured.