Hackberry

HACKBERRY – Common name for the genus Celtis, a member of the Elm Family, comprising species of trees with elm-like leaves and small cherry-like fruits. Hack-berries (also called Nettle-trees) are planted as lawn or specimen subjects. Their rather wide-spreading boughs and light green foliage give them an airy, cheerful appearance, and as they are not particular as to soil they will thrive in almost any situation. They grow rapidly, especially when young; and, having a fibrous root-system, they are easily transplanted. They arc propagated by seed and by layers and cuttings of ripened wood.

For the most part hackberries are free from diseases and insect pests. Of the occasional exceptions, the principal disease is a form of witches’ broom with which are always associated two other organisms – a gall mite and a powdery mildew. The only control measure is to cut out the brooms and reshape the shrub. The hackberry is also a favorite host for jumping plant lice (psyllids) which cause deforming’ galls on foliage and twigs.

Principal species are as follows:

Celtis occidentalis to 120 ft. has shining green leaves, paler beneath, and orange-red to dark-purple fruit. This, the native species, is frequently planted in the East and Middle West States.

Celtis laevigata (Sugarberry ; Mississippi Hackberry) to 120 ft. with long thin leaves and orange-red fruit becoming bluish-purple, is native in the South and South Central States and is occasionally planted there.

Celtis donglasi to 20 ft. is a small tree with brownish fruit, native to the Western States.

Celtis julianae to 80 ft. with yellowish green leaves, soft-hairy beneath, and brown fruit, is a Chinese tree much grown in Calif. It is not hardy North.

Celtis sinensis to 60 ft. with long, wavy-toothed leaves and orange fruit, is an Asiatic tree grown in mild climates.

Celtis australis to 80 ft. with grayish green leaves, soft-hairy beneath, and orange fruit, is suitable only for the South.