DENDROLOGY. 



133 



CELTIS. 



Polygamia Monoecia. Lixsr. Urticeae. Juss. Tonic, anodyne. 



Hack Berry. Celtis crassifolia. 



The banks of the Dela- 

 ware above Philadelphia 

 may be considered as the 

 north-east limit of the hack 

 berry. East of the moun- 

 tains it is restricted within 

 narrow boundaries, and is a 

 stranger to the lower part 

 of Virginia and to the more 

 southern states. It is 

 abundant on the banks of 

 the Susquehannah and of 

 the Potomac. It is profusely 

 multiplied, in the Western 

 Country in all the valleys 

 that stretch along the rivers, 

 and wherever the soil is 

 fertile throughout Kentucky and Tennessee. On the Ohio it is 

 called Hoop Ash, and in Kentucky, Hack Berry. 



It attains the summit of 70 or 80 feet with a disproportionate 

 diameter of 18 or 20 inches. In rich soils the luxuriance of its 

 vegetation is shown by sprouts, 6 or 10 feet in length, garnished 

 on each side with large, substantial leaves. The hack berry is 

 easily distinguished by the form of its trunk, which is straight 

 and undivided to a great height, and by its bark, which is grayish, 

 unbroken and covered with asperities unequally distributed over 

 its surface. Its leaves are larger than those of any other species 

 of nettle tree, being six inches long and three or four broad. 

 They are oval-acuminate, "denticulated, cordiform at the base, of 

 a. thick, substantial texture and of a rude surface. It puts forth 

 flowers in May which are small, white and often united in pairs 



PLATE XIX. 

 Fig. I. A leaf. Fit?. ^. The fruit. 



