See Map: K, 21, 22 
HACKBERRY 
Celtis occidentalis 
i Native across most of eastern-central 
{ "Pas North America in upland and lowland 
NaN f, sites, the hackberry occurs wild around 
- ANH Vees 7 St. Louis along with the similar and 
Soy \Q LAN ds tek closely related sugarberry (Celtis 
<— FGe~ 3 Inevigata—see one in the English Wood- 
SN Vere - land Garden) and dwarf hackberry (C. 
AN Vy ZY; 2 tenuifolia). Hackberry differs from these 
/ we ON ~r** — relatives by having the leaves on the 
. ae) fruiting branches with more strongly 
. saw-toothed margins; larger, usually 
dark-colored (vs. reddish) fruits that 
deacon Summer —_ wrinkle more when dry; and the fruits 
on stalks longer than (vs. shorter than) 
the leaf stalks. Dwarf hackberry is usually a shrub or small tree in glades 
or other open, rocky places. The sugarberry is usually a full-sized tree of 
bottomlands and is distinguished by slightly curved leaves and gray bark 
with round warts. (Hackberry likewise has gray bark but with elongate 
warts and irregular thin ridges.) 
Hackberries belong to the Elm Family (Ulmaceae) but differ from 
elms by having pea-sized, fleshy fruits with large pits rather than coin- 
sized, waferlike fruits. American Indians powdered hackberry pits for a 
seasoning, and the fleshy layer is sweet and pleasant. Homer described 
the fruit of the Mediterranean hackberry (Celtis australis) as “so delicious 
