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Post 62
Hackberry

Celtis occidentalis

Location

N39º28.XXX'
W088º24.XXX'

Date Planted

November 14, 2012
Special Note:
In earlier years, the tough, flexible wood of the hackberry tree was used for barrel hoops, and many a pioneer cabin was equipped with durable hackberry wood flooring. The tree was first cultivated in 1636.

This tree was donated and planted by the Lions Club of Mattoon, Illinois


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Tree located at
Hawthorne Elementary School
2405 Champaign Avenue
Mattoon, Illinois

Tree Description

Reaches a height of 50 to 90 feet;  spreading or drooping branches forming a rounded crown;  trunk has a diameter of 1 1/2 to 3 feet.

Habitat

Prefers rich, moist soils, but often grows on rich, rocky hillsides, river valleys;  also in mixed hardwood forests on upland slopes.

Range

From New Hampshire and southern Quebec to southern Manitoba, south to northern Georgia and eastern Texas.

Leaf Description

Simple, alternate in two rows along twigs, simple, ovate in shape, from 2 to 4 inches wide, with long-pointed tips, sharp teeth above, but are entire towards the oblique base;  shiny green above, usually smooth;  paler below, often with hairy veins;  turns yellow in fall.
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Bark Description

Grayish-brown or ashy-gray, at first smooth but becoming roughened with characteristic narrow corky ridges and warty or corky excrescences.
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Fruit Description

Flowers greenish; 1/8 inch wide;  appearing at base of new leaves in early spring.  Fruit ovoid drupes, about pea size, berrylike;  orange-red to dark purple-black;  1/4 to 3/8 inch in diameter;  on a slender stalk, maturing in fall.


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Riddle Trees ~ In Support of Outdoor Education ~ 2020