General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 5b -26.1 °C (-15 °F) to -23.3 °C (-10 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 10a
Plant Height: 25 to 85 feet
Leaves: Deciduous
Fruit: Edible to birds
Other: 1/4 inch round to oblong, reddish-orange drupe, maturing to dark purplish-black in fall
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Flower Color: Green
Other: Yellowish white to greenish
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Spring
Suitable Locations: Street Tree
Uses: Shade Tree
Edible Parts: Fruit
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Pollinators: Bees
Containers: Not suitable for containers
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil

Image
Common names
  • Sugarberry
  • Sugar Hackberry
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Celtis laevigata
  • Synonym: Celtis laevigata var. laevigata

Photo Gallery
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2010-12-28
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: June 10 2010
Sugarberry with underbrush and a grapevine growing through it
Location: Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin, Texas
Date: 2022-04-05
Location: Edinburg, Texas | June, 2023
Both Ampelovirus and Pachypsylla celtidisasterisca present on thi
Location: Plano, TX
Date: 2008-02-16
Covered in snow
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2010-01-05
Sugarberry with a clump of Mistletoe, https://garden.org/plants/v
Location: Edinburg, Texas | June, 2023

photo credit: Matt Lavin
Location: Jacksonville, TX
Date: June 10 2010
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: October 20, 2011
October Sugarberries!
Location: Crowley Park, Richardson, Texas.
Date: April
credit: Richard Murphy
Location: Edinburg, Texas | July, 2023

Photo by Leo Michels
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: August 12, 2010
"Sugarberry" Tree
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: March 24, 2010
Reverse side of leaves and unripe fruit
Location: Backyard
Date: December 21, 2010
Ripening drupes (fruit)
Location: Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Date: 2019-05-26
mature tree, one of three at arboretum
Location: Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Date: 2019-05-26
looking up into canopy
Location: Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Date: 2019-05-26
big trunk
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania
Date: 2019-05-26
dividing trunk
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Opp, AL
Date: 2014-10-10
Location: Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL
Date: 2015-06-19
the trunk with some branches
Location: Backyard
Date: March 12, 2011
\"Sugarberry\" Tree
Location: Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL
Date: 2015-06-19
the foliage
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2010-01-05
Location: My neighbor's backyard
Date: October 3, 2010
Warty bark of the Sugarberry Tree

photo credit: Matt Lavin
Comments:
  • Posted by plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Sep 8, 2011 8:17 PM concerning plant:
    Celtis laevigata, commonly called "Sugarberry" is a deciduous North American native tree that can reach heights of 60' to 80'. Sugarberry has an elm-like shape with a broad open crown, drooping branches, and warty bark. The drupes (fruit) start out green, ripen to a purplish black color, and are a favorite of birds.

    Here in my area the "Sugarberry" tree is the first to lose its leaves in autumn and also the first tree to leaf out with pretty light green foliage in spring, and it's a beautiful shade tree during the summer months. Mature trees have interesting, corky/warty looking bark.
  • Posted by ILPARW (southeast Pennsylvania - Zone 6b) on May 27, 2019 1:05 PM concerning plant:
    This Sugar Hackberry is really a species of the South USA. Its native range is from all of Florida to eastern Texas, with some spots in west Texas and northeast Mexico, to southern Illinois & Indiana to North Carolina. She is very similar to her more northern sister of the Common Hackberry. However, her 2 to 5 inch long leaves do not have marginal teeth; the bark can be gray and smooth like a beech or with wartiness; the sweet, juicy fruits are yellow to orange-red to blue-black and loved by birds. This Hackberry does not get the non-serious witch's-broom disease that the common species often gets. She is often used as a street tree in the South. I've seen some nice specimens in Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois (Zone 5a) and three in Jenkins Arboretum in Berwyn, Pennsylvania (Zone 6b). Hackberry trees, like their close cousins the Elms, are very adaptable trees to many sites.
Discussion Threads about this plant
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
What a fabulous photo Dave! by flaflwrgrl Dec 3, 2011 5:18 PM 2

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