Celtis occidentalis is a tough tree for urban or rural sites, growing rapidly to provide shade, windbreak, and/or erosion control under stressful conditions.
Alternate common name: Common Hackberry
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F E A T U R E S |
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Form
-large deciduous tree
-maturing at 70' tall x 50' wide
-upright oval growth habit in youth, quickly losing its central leader and becoming rounded to irregular in habit with age
-rapid growth rate |
Foliage
-alternate arrangement; medium green color
-serrated, ovate, with the base of the leaf skewed (unsymmetrical or lop-sided, like the foliage of most Elm Family members, called an oblique leaf base)
-often gets nipple gall in spring
-autumn color yellowish green to green |
Flowers
-greenish-yellow in Apr.-May, a mixture of staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers, giving a fine texture and lime color to the tree in early spring as the foliage begins to emerge |
Fruit
-greenish small round fruits in leaf axils, changing to orange or purple in color at maturity in Sept.-Oct. and devoured by birds |
Twig
-light gray, zigzag and irregular in growth pattern
-sometimes affected with witches' brooms
-stems have no terminal buds and are often knobby
-lateral stems often die back a few inches to give a ragged appearance to the ends of branches |
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Trunk
-light gray to gray-green
-very corky to warty ornamental bark, slowly becoming platy with age
-often to 3' or more in diameter on old trees, with significant basal flair
-wood is much stronger than Silver Maple (another quick shade tree) |
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C U L T
U R E
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Culture
-full sun
-prefers moist soils but is adaptable to many adverse conditions, including wet or dry sites and poor soils
-propagated primarily by seed but also by rooted stem cuttings or grafted onto seedling understock
-Elm Family, with several diseases and pests, but not including Dutch elm disease
-witches' broom is a dense clustering of miniature stems and foliage, caused by the combination of a mite and a fungus
-nipple gall on summer and autumn foliage is a cosmetic leaf disease
-chlorotic foliage in summer is indicative of alkaline soils that result in manganese deficiency to the tree
-moderate availability, usually B&B
-often a volunteer tree in waste sites, fence rows, etc. that is left for shade or windbreak function (or is too big to conveniently cut down) |
Hardiness
-zones 2 to 9
Origin
-native to floodplains of the Eastern U.S.
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U S A G E |
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Assets
-urban tolerant (dry sites, soil compaction, pollution, wind, heat, acid or alkaline soil tolerant), ornamental bark, rapid growth, adaptable to wet sites
Liabilities
-poor autumn color, gets very large for urban areas (in canopy height and width, and trunk girth)
-leaf (nipple gall) and twigs (witches' broom) exhibit cosmetic diseases
-causes bird waste litter in early autumn due to their fruit over-consumption
-shedding twigs and occasional twigs winter dieback
-chlorotic foliage in alkaline soils is the result of manganese deficiency |
Function
-shade tree (for highly stressed, poor soil, or wet soil sites where rapid growth is needed), deciduous windbreak, pioneer invader tree
Texture
-medium texture overall in foliage and when bare (fine-textured twigs, but bold and irregular branching pattern)
-average density in foliage but thick when bare |
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S E L
E C T I 0 N S |
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Varieties
and Cultivars
- Search
OSU PlantFacts for additional plants in this species
Alternates
-large shade trees for stressful sites where poor environmental conditions exist (Ailanthus altissima, Fraxinus americana, Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis, Morus rubra, Ulmus parvifolia, etc.)
-large shade trees with ornamental bark (Betula nigra, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus americana, Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis, Ulmus parvifolia, etc.) |