Hackberry

Celtis occidentalis

Hackberry is the tree ecologists call one of the most underrated canopy trees in eastern North America. Irregular corky bark creates a distinctive silhouette year-round. Dark purple berries ripen in fall and persist through winter, sustaining cedar waxwings, robins, and bluebirds during cold snaps when other food sources have been depleted. The tree is a host plant for hackberry emperor, question mark, and Eastern comma butterflies. It grows in conditions that stress most other canopy trees: dry soils, compacted urban ground, alkaline clay, and wind-exposed sites. Plant it in a difficult spot and it will thrive where a more sensitive tree would struggle for decades. Hackberry is the canopy tree for sites where you need ecological function without ideal conditions.