A hackberry drupe. Can we call it a “hack”? It is surprisingly smooth at this stage of unripeness, and extremely difficult to photograph. This is through a 10x loupe.
Other names for the tree include nettletree, sugarberry, and beaverwood, but why hackberry? One source says the Scottish “hagberry,” for a Eurasian bird cherry (Prunus padus), is the source of this name; hackberry is also a name for the cherry.
The genus name Celtis was Pliny’s lotus tree, so that’s no help.
You can rest easy, since my corrections to the Street Tree map have been accepted. You may remember that when I first saw the map I naturally looked up the two trees right below my apartment. They were mapped as Hawthorns. They are now rightfully recorded as Hackberries.
Backyard and Beyond 
Leave a reply to Murray Fisher Cancel reply