Habitat

• native to eastern United States
• hardy to zone 5

Habit and Form

• a medium-sized deciduous tree
• columnar to irregular crown
• 40' to 60' tall
• medium to coarse texture
• medium growth rate

Summer Foliage

• alternate leaf arrangement
• simple, deciduous leaves
• narrow, ovate leaf shape
• oblique leaf base
• yellowish green leaf color
• 2" to 4" long

Autumn Foliage

• yellow fall color
• not the best tree for fall color

Flowers

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

Fruit

• black drupe fruit
• hard seed covered by thin flesh
• 0.25" in diameter
• edible, sweet
• attract birds
• mature in early fall

Bark

• light gray bark
• smooth bark with corky ridges
• slender brown stems
• zigzag stem pattern
• lenticels

Culture

• soil tolerant, but does well with fertilization and irrigation
• full sun
• pollution tolerant
• tolerant of most conditions
• wind tolerant

Landscape Use

• shade tree
• street tree
• difficult sites
• park tree
• to attract wildlife
• for edible fruit

Liabilities

• leaf spot, powdery mildew, hackberry nipple gall, scale, aphids
• 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
• lateral buds is triangular and appressed
• terminal bud absent
• zigzag stem pattern
• serrated leaf tips
• small, black drupe fruit

Propagation

• by cuttings
• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

• few and hard to find