Here in Texas it is alternatively named Spanish or French Mulberry, has to do with our heritage. It has another use that the east Texans found handy, it apparently has some ability to repel ticks and red bugs (chiggers), so we routinely break off a chunk and whip our britches legs with it to remove the critters. No transfer of new ones from the plant.
But that is old history, with the spread of the imported fire ant, ticks in my part of the world could be considered endangered. Where we could get a good load of ticks in a days time to the point of taking a chlorox bath and a "kind" family member to check those parts you cannot see, now getting a tick every so often, last year less than a dozen, or less than one a month. Red bugs another question. Still can get wrapped up with them, but not as often as before. Army worms down as well.
