Alternate name: Hackberry, Palo Blanco
Family: Ulmaceae, Elm view all from this family
Description Tree with broad, rounded, open crown of spreading or slightly drooping branches.
Height: 80' (24 m).
Diameter: 1 1/2' (0.5 m).
Leaves: in 2 rows, 2 1/2-4" (6-10 cm) long, 3/4-1 1/4" (2-3 cm) wide. Broadly lance-shaped, long-pointed, often curved; 2 sides unequal; without teeth, sometimes with a few; 3 main veins from base; thin. Dark green and usually smooth above, paler and usually hairless beneath.
Bark: light gray; thin, smooth, with prominent corky warts.
Twigs: greenish, slender, mostly hairless.
Flowers: 1/8" (3 mm) wide; greenish; male and female at base of young leaves in early spring.
Fruit: 1/4" (6 mm) in diameter; orange-red of purple 1-seeded drupes; dry and sweet; slender-stalked at leaf bases.
Habitat Moist soils, especially clay, on river flood plains; sometimes in pure stands but usually with other hardwoods.
Range SE. Virginia south to S. Florida, west to central and SW. Texas, and north to central Illinois; also NE. Mexico; to 2000' (610 m).
Discussion Robins, mockingbirds, and other songbirds eat the sweetish fruits. Principal uses of the wood are for furniture, athletic goods, and plywood.
