Well, not only had I never heard of "Celtis," I've also never heard of "Hackberry" that I can recall... so I figured it must be some southern thing, but NO! It seems to be native to N. Dakota... and one of the 100 most common trees in N. America.
(and I thought I was pretty well tree-informed!)
I did find this information about it (and now that I've learned all of this new stuff, I can take the rest of the day off!
)
http://forestry.about.com/od/t...
Hackberry is a weak tree whose forked limbs are subject to split and which makes the tree vulnerable to major wind and ice damage. Hackberry bark is very thin, the tree damages easily and is susceptible to disease, eventual rot and catastrophic limb loss.
Roots can raise sidewalks and interfere with mowing. The tree is messy with an abundant loss of small limbs and fruit each year. The best use of hackberry is along woods lines and well away from pavement and utilities.
Redeeming features:
*Hackberry will survive on poor soils.
*Hackberry provides abundant wildlife food.
*Hackberry hosts many butterfly species.
*Hackberry is one of only a few tree species that thrive on the Great Plains.
