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American Hackberry
(Celtis occidentalis) |
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American Hackberry Twig with Berries This medium sized to tall tree, which grow throughout the northeastern US, has warty, light gray bark and messy-looking twigs pointing in all directions, the result of a non-fatal fungus disease. The tree grows in parks, fields, floodplains, along fence rows, and in wastelands. |
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American Hackberry Branch
The simple (undivided), alternate (configured singly), pointed, finely toothed (serrated) leaves' bases are distinctly uneven: one half is always longer or shorter than the other. The leaves are usually infested with galls, which contain insect larvae. |
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American Hackberry Twigs, Leaves, and Berries
Orange-brown when ripe, each spherical berry, which contains a hard, inedible seed arises independently from the twig via a long, slender stalk. Berries ripen in autumn. |
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American Hackberry Fruit
The sweet berries taste like the candy coating of M & Ms. Their small size and the hard seeds make it impractical to cook them, but they provide a superb trail nibble. Relatives of the American Hackberry, also in the genus Celtis, grow throughout the US, all with edible berries. |
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American Hackberry Twig in Flower
Tiny, inconspicuous, wind-pollinated flowers bloom in early spring, while the leaves are developing. |
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American Hackberry Flowers
Long, fuzzy male flowers (on the right), produce pollen, which fertilizes the greenish-white, rounded female flowers (on the left) which become the berries. |