Habitat

• native to Quebec & southwest to Oklahoma
• zone 3

Habit and Form

• a large deciduous tree
• cylindrical shape when mature
• 40' to 60' tall and has an almost equal spread
• branches tend to droop
• fast growth rate
• coarse texture

Summer Foliage

• alternate leaf arrangement
• leaves are simple and are 3" to 5" long
• oblique leaf base
• serrate margins at leaf tip
• medium green color, pale yellow-green leaf underside
• leaves are glabrous on underside especially around veins
• leaves have rough texture

Autumn Foliage

• yellow fall color
• not showy

Flowers

• blooms late April to early May
• emerge with leaves
• not ornamentally important

Fruit

• orangy-red fleshy fruit
• drupe
• ripen in September - October
• edible, sweet date taste
• not ornamentally important
• flesh surround hard seed that can break teeth

Bark

• grayish color
• bark is corky and unattractive
• stems have zigzag appearance
• prominent lenticels on stems

Culture

• easily transplant form B&B container or bare root
• prefers rich soil
• very soil adaptable
• tolerant of most conditions
• wind tolerant
• full sun
• urban tolerant

Landscape Use

• good tree for poor conditions
• park tree
• screen
• for edible fruit

Liabilities

• leaf spot, powdery mildew, hackberry nipple gall, scale
• witches' broom caused by insect
• problems don't kill tree, but make tree very unattractive

ID Features

• alternate leaf arrangement
• oblique leaf base
• rough leaf
• corky bark
• small, imbricate lateral buds
• terminal bud absent
• zigzag stem pattern
• serrated leaf tips
• small, red drupe fruit

Propagation

• by budding
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

• none of importance