CELTIS CRASSIFOLIA, Hackberry
- Celtis crassifolia, Lamarck, Encycl. iv. 138 (1797); Michaux, Hist. Arb. Amer. iil, 228, t. 9 (1813); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iti, 1418 (1838); Britton, Man. Fl. NWorth. States and Canada, 339 (1901).
- Celtis cordata, Persoon, Sp. Pl. i. 292 (1805).
- Celtis Audibertiana, Spach, Ann. Sc. Nat. sér. 2, xvi. 41 (1841).
- Celtis occidentalis, Sargent, Silva NV. Amer. vii. 67 (1895), and Trees NV. Amer. 299 (1905). (In part.)
A tree, attaining rarely as much as 130 feet in height, and 1o feet in girth. Bark as in C. occidentalis. Young branchlets pubescent. Leaves usually about 2½ inches long by 1½ inch broad, but on isolated branches, commonly found in the inner part of the crown, often 6 inches long and 3 inches broad; ovate, unequal, and shortly cuneate at the base, shortly acuminate at the apex, serrate, as a rule, only in the upper half; upper surface scabrous to the touch; lower surface pubescent on the nerves; petiole, ¼ inch or more, pubescent. Fruiting pedicels long, ¾ inch or more. Drupe purple, red or black when ripe, globose or ovoid, about 2⁄5 inch in diameter.
This species, which is not distinguished by Sargent, even as a variety, from C. occidentalis, is remarkably distinct in foliage, and appears to be a more upright and faster-growing tree in cultivation than that species. Michaux states that it is one of the finest species of the genus, remarkable for its great height and straight trunk, and that it is common in the states west of the Alleghanies, especially in Ohio and Kentucky, where, however, its timber was little esteemed on account of its weakness and liability to speedy decay on exposure to the weather. Its distribution has been confused with that of C. occzdentats ; but, according to Britton, it occurs from New York to South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee. (A.H.)
Ridgway’ speaks of this species of Hackberry under the name of C. occidental, as "a very tall and beautiful tree in rich bottoms, growing frequently 120 to 130 feet high and 3 feet in diameter, with a tall straight trunk of 60 to 70, or even 80 feet to the first limb. When growing to its full perfection in a dense forest, there is an individuality about the aspect of this tree which it is difficult to describe, owing to the extreme slenderness and great length of the trunk, which not unfrequently comprises three-fourths of the total height of the tree; and the smooth grey bark conspicuously clouded on the north side with blackish moss or lichen for its entire length. This striking appearance is sometimes increased by vines of the Virginia creeper ascending to the topmost branches, which are wreathed and matted with its foliage. One tree was seen whose silvery shaft gleamed among the surrounding tree tops, in a wood where the summit level was considerably more than 100 feet aloft, and though only 10 feet in circumference must have been upwards of go feet
1 Proc. U.S. Nat. Museum, 1882, p. 72.
