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common hackberry

common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Features and Behaviors

FEATURES
The deciduous common hackberry tree may grow to 80 feet tall with a trunk diameter of five feet. Its bark is gray and “warty” becoming scaly and rough on old trees. The simple leaves are arranged alternately on the stem. Each leaf is oval to lance-shaped and is uneven at its base. The leaf is usually coarsely toothed and may be six inches long and three inches wide. The flowers are arranged in drooping clusters (sometimes singly). The flower is green-yellow with no petals. The dark-purple fruit is nearly round, about one-third inch in diameter. Each fruit contains one seed. The fruit ripens in September and October.

BEHAVIORS
The common hackberry may be found statewide in Illinois. This tree grows in low woodlands. The common hackberry flowers in April and May after its leaves are partially grown. Its heavy, soft, pale-yellow wood is used for making fence posts and furniture.

Illinois Range

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Urticales
Family: Ulmaceae

Illinois Status: common, native