July 8, 2007
Hackberry tree
After planting the new maple and sycamore trees, I’ve become interested in knowing more about the trees that are already established around the edge of the yard. One of them, it turns out, is some sort of Hackberry.
There is a 50ish foot tree, growing at one of the back corner of the yard, that provides most of our shade in the afternoon. Using What Tree Is It?, I’ve figured out that it is either a Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) or Southern Hackberry (Celtis laevigata) aka the Sugarberry. The ranges for these overlap over this part of Virginia and North Carolina; otherwise to my amateur eyes they seem identical.
I know why the Hackberry sings
for thee?
For my belovedly wrecked table!
I don’t have much experience with Hackberries. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it to see if I see any of them in my neighborhood..
From the Wikipedia description, it almost sounds like a Mulberry — Hackberry’s wood is soft and rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially, although it is occasionally used for furniture or other uses. The berries, although edible, are small and out of reach, and are seldom eaten by humans.
It’s not a Mulberry because you would have mentioned how dirty they are and how they attract birds and way to much waste to allow a sitting area. Also that Mulberry berries look a lot like blackberries.
[...] the ground and re-running the side fence actually along the property line. Moving the fence brought the hackberry tree into our yard; mucking around in the vacant lot next door got me a good dose of the poison ivy, [...]