The Hackberry Tree

Hackberry, or Celtis occidentalis, is easy to grow, tolerates a wide variety of conditions in an urban area, and has small orange fruits (called a drupe) which are a good source of food for winter birds.  In fact, the Arbor Day Foundation calls the hackberry “one tough tree.”  There is always a “however.” However, in Weyanoke Sanctuary there are hundreds (probably thousands) of hackberry seedlings as well as larger trees.  If these saplings grew, the Sanctuary would be called hackberry heaven, as they would crowd out other species.  To keep this from happening, NMGs will remove the seedlings to ensure a more diverse woodland. 

You can always tell a hackberry, even in winter, by identification of its bark.  The key feature is its warty surface that develops early and increases in size and number as it ages. The fruit of the hackberry is popular with winter birds, especially the cedar waxwing, mockingbird, and robin. The tree also attracts many butterfly species and is host plant for the caterpillars of the American Snout, Hackberry Emperor, Mourning Cloak, Tawny Emperor, Question Mark and Comma butterflies.