THE HACKBERRIES 161 



is elm-like, though smaller and brighter green than the foli- 

 age of the American elm. A peculiarity of the foliage is 

 the apparent division of the petiole into three main ribs, in- 

 stead of a single midrib. At base, the leaves are always 

 unsymmetrical. The bark is broken into thick ridges set 

 with warts, separated by deep fissures. 



The absence of terminal buds induces a forking habit^ 

 which makes the branches of a hackberry tree gnarled and 

 picturesque. The hackberry is not familiarly known by 

 the inhabitants of the regions where it grows, else it 

 would more commonly be transplanted to adorn private 

 grounds and to shade village streets. 



The Hackberry 



Celtis occidentalis, Linn. 



The hackberry reaches one hundred and twenty-five feet 

 in height in moist soil along stream borders or in marshes. 

 It is distributed from Nova Scotia to Puget Sound, and 

 south to Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Texas, and New 

 Mexico. The beauty of its graceful crown is sometimes 

 marred by a fungus which produces a thick tufting of twigs 

 on the ends of branches. The name, "witches' brooms" 

 has been given to these tufts. Growths of similar appear- 

 ance and the same name are produced by insect injury 

 on some other trees. 



The fruit of the hackberry is an oblong, thin-fleshed 

 sweet berry, purple in color, one fourth to one half inch 

 long. It dries about the solitary seed and hangs on the 

 tree all winter, to the great satisfaction of the birds. {See 

 illustration, page 1S3.) 



Emerson says: "The wood is used for the shafts and 



