Celtis occidentalis

How in the world is it that I haven't yet blogged about hackberry, or Celtis occidentalis? While it's not a particularly great ornamental tree, this native is common in the mid-Atlantic and is an outstanding plant for creating butterfly habitat.  

Everyone knows that butterflies gather nectar from tubular flowers, so when I write about butterfly habitat, I'm speaking more about the habitat it provides for caterpillars and eggs, which is obvioulsy equally important.

I tell students that the bark of hackberry, which is very distinctive, looks like gray molding clay that someone has hacked up with a fork or knife.  But that's not at all why the common name exists.  Instead, it's derivative of the Scottish name 'hagberry' which is actually in reference to a cherry (Prunus) species. 

The word Celtis is derivative of ancient Greek for a tree with sweet fruit, and while there are berries on hackberry, I would leave them for the birds (and caterpillars).  Occidentalis means 'western' which can cause initial confusion for us folks on the east coast.  But in botanical nomenclature, western means the new world, not the west coast of the new world.

The specimen above is at the Smithsonian's Butterfly Habitat Garden, though the top photos are from Central Park.  The plant is prevalent in both locations, though one also regularly encounters C. laevigata or sugarberry.