II iCKBERRY <>K NETTLE-TR1 I 

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Hal)it and Hahitat : A large tree, 10-50 feel high, with a trunk diam- 

 eter of 1-- feet; trunk usually straight, and symmetrical, dividing at 

 some distance above the ground into three or four large, upright 

 branches which produce many. Blender, zigzag twigs, the whole forming 



a rather narrow, rounded and rather open crown. Prefers the r 

 moist, well-drained soils of ravines and wooded slopes, but Is also com- 

 mon in the silty soils of river-bottoms, but is often seen on the drier 



slopes and hillsides a 



Leaves and Buds: The leaves are simple, alternate, 2-1 inches long, 

 ovate to ovate-lanceolate, often quite oblique at the base, and very fi 

 quently with a long tapering tip, thin, serrate above the middle, smooth. 

 light green above, pale beneath, often more or less soft downy, turning 

 light yellow in the fall; petioles short, hairy. The terminal bud is ab 

 sent; lateral buds yellowish brown, ovoid, or pyramid-shaped, flattened, 

 closely pressed against the twig. 



Flowers and Fruits: The flowers appeal- in May when the lea. 

 are at out mature, greenish, small, inconspicuous, single or in few- 

 flowered clusters, upon short, drooping pedicels from the axils of the 

 leaves; calyx green, o-parted; corolla none; stamens .">; pistil 1; some of 

 the Mowers are simply staminate, some merely pistillate. The fruit 

 is a fleshy, globular, cherry-like drupe, black or dark blue, edible, % 

 inch in diameter, borne by a slender, thread-like pedicel, maturing 1 

 in the summer, often drying out and remaining on the tree throughout 

 the winter. These fruits are much like small cherries with thin flesh 

 and relatively large stones. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: The bark is perhaps the most clearly dis- 

 tinguishing feature of the hackberry. On the older branches and main 

 trunk the bark is thick, usually light, silvery-gray and broken into deep 

 ridges or more or less rounded wary protuberances, and in very prom- 

 inent layers, which become particularly emphasized in the older parts 

 of the tree; the twigs are greenish and more or less hairy when young, 

 but become smooth, shiny and brownish during the first winter. The 

 tree frequently shows the development of dense clusters of dwarfed 

 twigs which are very prominent during the winter. These arc called 

 "witches' brooms", and are apparently due to the attack- of certain in- 

 sects. The wood is greenish-yellow, soft, heavy, coarse-grained, weak, 

 fairly durable in contact with the soil. 



Distribution in the State: Hackberry is found in practically all 

 parts of the state where the natural conditions permit of its growth, 

 that is, it is distributed throughout the state. Being disseminated by 

 birds, it has been very widely scattered away from the main belts of 

 woodland along the stream courses which constitute its natural home. 

 Many clumps of hackberry trees occur far inland in the sandhill region 



and in far western and southwestern Nebraska. Map 33. 



Remarks: This tree IS hardy in all portions of the state and 

 may be grown successfully where many other native trees fail. It 

 is fairly good BS B -tn-et and lawn tree although the "witches broom" 



dev< lopment sometimes makes the trees unsightly for such pure 



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