Celtis laevigata

Ulmaceae -- Elm family

    Harvey E. Kennedy, Jr.

    Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), a common medium-size tree of  moderate to fast growth, is most often found on clay soils of  broad flats or shallow sloughs within the flood plains of major  southern rivers. It is also called sugar hackberry, hackberry,  Texas sugarberry, southern hackberry, and lowland hackberry.  Sugarberry is short lived, probably not living more than 150  years. The wood is of medium strength and hardness and much of  the light yellow wood is used by furniture manufacturers. The  abundant crops of fruits are eaten by wildlife, especially birds.  The tree is planted as an ornamental and as a street tree in  residential areas in the lower South.

General: Elm Family (Ulmaceae). Sugarberry is a tree that can become up to 30 m tall and 1m in diameter. It has a broad crown formed by spreading branches, that are often drooped. The bark is light gray in color and can be smooth or covered with corky warts. The branchlets are covered with short hairs at first and eventually they become smooth. The leaves are alternated, simple, and slightly serrate. The leaves are 5 to 13 cm long and 3 to 5 cm wide. The lance-shaped leaves gradually taper to a point that is often curved. They are pale green on both the upper and lower surfaces with conspicuous veins. The flowers appear just before, or with the leaves in the spring. The drupes are subspherical and 5 to 8 mm in diameter. They have a thick skin and the pit surface has a netlike pattern. The drupes range in color from orange to reddish-brown and are attached by pedicels that are 6 to 15 mm long.

Distribution: For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

Habitat: Sugarberry is found growing in sandy loam or rocky soils along streams, in bottomlands, and in woodlands.

Texas sugarberry

Sugarberry is native to the southeastern part of the United States,
ranging south from southeastern Virginia to southern Florida; west to
central Texas and including northeastern Mexico; north to western
Oklahoma and southern Kansas; and east to Missouri, extreme southern
Illinois, and Indiana. It occurs locally in Maryland [5,17,36].

AL AR FL GA IL IN KY LA MD MS
MO NC SC TN TX MEXICO

Sugarberry ranges south from southeastern Virginia to southern  Florida, west to central Texas and northeastern Mexico, and north  to western Oklahoma, southern Kansas, Missouri, southern  Illinois, southern Indiana, and western Kentucky. It is local in  Maryland, the Rio Grande Valley, and northeastern Mexico. Its  range overlaps the southern part of the range of hackberry (C.  occidentalis).

   
  -The native range of sugarberry.

Celtis smallii Beadle:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Celtis mississippiensis Bosc:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Celtis laevigata var. laevigata :
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Celtis laevigata var. texana (Scheele) Sarg.:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Celtis laevigata var. smallii (Beadle) Sarg.:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Celtis laevigata Willd.:
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Kans., Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va.; n Mexico.

United States

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

When sugarberry is top-killed by fire it will resprout from the root collar.

More info for the terms: resistance, tree

Sugarberry is a moderately tall (60 to 100 feet [18-30 m]), native
deciduous tree [2,5,36]. Mature trees are typically 18 inches (46 cm)
in d.b.h., 80 feet (24 m) tall, with 30 feet (9 m) clear of branches in
good stands [36]. The crown is spreading and round-topped or oblong.
The bark of young trees is gray and smooth; mature trees develop corky
outgrowths that are scattered to dense with smooth areas in between
[15]. The roots of sugarberry are relatively shallow; it does not form
a distinct taproot and has only average resistance to windthrow.
Sugarberry has a moderately long life span, not usually living over 150
years [5].

Trees , to 30 m; trunks to 1 m diam., crowns broad, spreading. Bark light gray, smooth or covered with corky warts. Branches without thorns, often pendulous, young branches pubescent at first, then glabrous. Leaves: petiole 6-10 mm. Leaf blade typically elliptic-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (4-)6-8(-15) × (2-)3-4 cm, thin and membranaceous to leathery, base broadly cuneate to rounded, margins entire or rarely with a few long teeth, apex sharply acute to acuminate; surfaces glabrous or nearly so, margins ciliate. Inflorescences: flowers solitary or few-flowered clusters at base of leaves. Drupes orange to brown or red when ripe, nearly orbicular, 5-8 mm diam., beakless; pedicel 6-15 mm. Stones 4.5-7 × 5-6 mm. 2 n = 20, 30, and 40.

Celtis laevigata var. anomala Sargent; C. laevigata var. brachyphylla Sargent; C. laevigata var. smallii (Beadle) Sargent; C. laevigata var. texana Sargent; C. mississippiensis Bosc; C. smallii Beadle

More info for the terms: basal area, shrub, swamp

Sugarberry is found in moist alluvial woods and slough margins (but not
deep swamps) up to 600 feet (180 m) elevation [15,43]. It also occurs
on upland sites, although rarely. It occurs on any soil type with fair
drainage, from sandy loams and rocky or alluvial soils to heavy black
clay [47]. Sugarberry is most often found on clay soils in the orders
Iceptisols and Entisols on broad flats or shallow sloughs within the
floodplains of major rivers, and on deep moist soils derived from
limestones, but will grow under a considerable range of soil and
moisture conditions [5].

Sugarberry cannot tolerate prolonged flooding or water-saturated soils
[28]. Hook [27] listed sugarberry as weakly tolerant to waterlogging,
and capable of living from seedling to maturity in soils temporarily
waterlogged for 1 to 4 weeks of the year, or about 10 percent of the
growing season. In forested wetlands sugarberry grows best in the drier
areas. Rising water levels (due to sea level rise, flooding,
impoundments etc.) will reduce sugarberry basal area in these forests
[10].

Sugarberry occurs in cedar (Jumiperus spp.) glades in the Nashville
basin, Tennessee, in mesophytic forests of the Mississippi embayment
section, and in the Oachita mountains of Louisiana on elevated rocky
surfaces subject to frequent floods [3]. Sugarberry is present as an
occasional component of hydric hammocks in Florida [58].

Sugarberry is found in humid climates, except in the extreme western
portion of its range in Texas and Oklahoma. Average annual
precipitation ranges from 20 to 60 inches (510-1,520 mm). Summer
temperatures average 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 deg C) with extremes of
115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 deg C), and temperatures average 30 to 50
degrees Fahrenheit (-1 to 10 deg C) with extremes of -20 degreees
Fahrenheit (-29 deg C). The average frost-free period ranges from 150
to 270 days [5,36].

Overstory associates not listed in Distribution and Occurrence include
winged elm (Ulmus alata), cedar elm (U. crassifolia), water oak (Quercus
nigra), southern red oak (Q. falcata), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica),
persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), honeylocust (Gleditsia tricantuos),
red maple (Acer rubrum), boxelder (A. negundo), pecan (Carya
illinoensis), bumelia (Bumelia lanuginosa), persimmon (Diospyros
virginiana), and red mulberry (Morus rubra). Shrub associates include
swamp-privet (Forestiera acuminata), roughleaf dogwood (Cornus
drummondii), swamp dogwood (C. stricta), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), and
buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) [5,7,19,36,45]. Lianas occurring
with sugarberry include eastern poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
[19].

More info for the terms: codominant, cover, hardwood, swamp

In many areas, sugarberry occurs as scattered individuals. After
disturbances, a seral sugarberry-American elm (Ulmus americana)-green
ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) forest cover type may develop, with
sugarberry as a codominant. This type intermixes with sweetgum
(Liquidambar styraciflua)-willow oak (Quercus phellos) types, which
contain essentially the same species in different densities. The
sugarberry-American elm-green ash type occurs most often on the central
coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico, heavily concentrated on the
Mississippi alluvial plain, and along major river basins [21,36].

Publications in which sugarberry is listed as a dominant or codominant
include:

Woody vegetation of an old-growth creekbottom forest in north-central
Texas. [41]
Quadrat study of a bottomland forest in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. [50]
Woody species composition of the upper San Antonio River gallery
forest. [6]
Productivity and composition of a baldcypress-water tupelo site and a
bottomland hardwood site in a Louisiana swamp. [10]
Vegetative analysis of the floodplain of the Trinity River, Texas. [42]
Plant communities of the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [62]
The distribution of woody species in the Guadalupe River floodplain
forest in the Edwards Plateau of Texas. [20]

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: hardwood

70 Longleaf pine
75 Shortleaf pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
85 Slash pine - hardwood
87 Sweet gum - yellow-poplar
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
89 Live oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
94 Sycamore - sweetgum - American elm
95 Black willow
96 Overcup oak - water hickory
105 Tropical hardwoods
111 South Florida slash pine

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

K084 Cross Timbers
K089 Black Belt
K092 Everglades
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest

Sugarberry is most common on Inceptisols and Entisols found in  broad flats or shallow sloughs within flood plains of major  southern rivers (9), but will grow under a considerable range of  soil and moisture conditions. It is widely distributed on bottom  lands except in deep swamps and is found to a minor extent on  upland sites. It is also common on deep moist soils derived from  limestones, notably in the Black Belt of Alabama (10).

Sugarberry grows in a humid climate except for part of its range  in Oklahoma and Texas which lies west of a north-south line  through Galveston Bay. There the climate is semihumid to  semiarid. The average precipitation varies from 510 to 1520 mm  (20 to 60 in) per year, the lightest being in central Texas and  Oklahoma. An average of 380 to 760 mm (15 to 30 in) occurs during  the frost-free period. Annual snowfall ranges from 0 to 51 cm (0  to 20 in).

    Summer temperatures vary from an average of 27° C (80°  F) to extremes of 46° C (115° F). Average winter  temperatures are from -1° to 10° C (30° to 50°  F), with an extreme of -29° C (-20° F).

    The average length of the growing season varies from 150 to 270  days.

In rich bottomlands along streams, in flood plains, and on rocky slopes; 0-300m.

Sugarberry can be propagated by seed and cuttings, planted in autumn. Sugarberry has no preference for a particular soil type.

Sugarberry appears with the following forest cover types (11):  Cottonwood (Society of American Foresters Type 63),  Sweetgurn-Willow Oak (Type 92), Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash  (Type 93), Sycamore-Sweetgurn-American Elm (Type 94), Black  Willow (Type 95), and Overcup Oak-Water Hickory (Type 96).

    Other tree associates are cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia), winged  elm (U. alata), water oak Quercus nigra), blackgum  (Nyssa sylvatica), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana),  honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), red maple (Acer  rubrum), and boxelder (A. negundo). Some important  noncommercial tree and shrub associates are swamp-privet (Forestiera  acuminata), roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii), and  hawthorn (Crataegus spp.).

The bark is thin and easily injured by  fire. A light burn kills back reproduction. Heavier bums may kill  even the largest trees and wound others, making them subject to  serious butt rot, which in sugarberry advances rapidly. Butt rot  is a common name used to indicate the area of the decay in the  butt log which may be caused by any one of 30 or more species of  fungi belonging to the genera Fomes, Polyporus, Hericium,  and Plyeurotus.

    Ice also causes heavy damage to the crowns, breaking the main stem  and branches which reduces growth and creates wounds that allow  entrance of rot-causing fungi. There are some other diseases of  the twigs and leaves, but none are of major importance.

    Eastern mistletoe (Phoraedendron flavescens) may cause  serious damage in the western part of its range (7). A number of  scales attack the twigs, small branches, and sometimes the  trunks, but none are considered very damaging. Leaf petiole galls  caused by the hackberry petiole gall maker (Pachypsylla  venusta) are common. In recent years, defoliation of large  acreages in several Southern States by larvae of the hackberry  butterfly (Asterocampa celtis) have been reported (12).  No deaths or crown die-back among the trees was observed in the  following years. Research has shown that the hackberry butterfly  can be controlled by spraying trees with certain registered  insecticides (8).

More info for the term: basal area

Sugarberry occurs as scattered individuals in Florida pine flatwoods
that are usually maintained by fire. When fire is eliminated,
succession usually proceeds to either southern mixed hardwoods or
bayhead communities, with a concomitant increase in basal area of
sugarberry [38].

More info for the terms: frequency, root collar, succession, wildfire

Fire-damaged seedlings and saplings sprout from the root collar [5].
After an April wildfire in Texas that top-killed all vegetation,
sugarberry was observed to be sprouting from the root collar by July
[61].

Wounding by fire increases susceptibility to butt rot (any of 30 species
of Fomes, Polyporus, Hericium or Pleurotus).

In a study of 55 years of postfire succession in a Florida mixed
hardwood forest, sugarberry, while not an important species, increased
in frequency [26]. Sugarberry is often a component of areas that have
undergone some type of disturbance, including fire, although it is not
an initial colonizer of disturbed areas (usually establishing by 4 or 5
years) [33].

More info for the term: top-kill

Light-severity fires will kill or top-kill seedlings and saplings of
sugarberry, and top-kill larger trees; severe fires may kill even the
largest trees [5].

More info for the terms: ground residual colonizer, secondary colonizer

Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/root sucker
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the terms: fire suppression, root collar

The bark of sugarberry is thin and easily damaged by fire. When
top-killed, sugarberry will sprout from the root collar [5].

Sugarberry occurs in areas that have undergone a shift from grassland to
hardwoods (central Texas and western Oklahoma) or from pines to
hardwoods as a result of fire suppression [26]. The moist bottomlands
in which sugarberry occurs do not have frequent FIRE REGIMES.

More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: competition, presence, series, shrub, succession, tree

Facultative Seral Species

Seedlings of sugarberry can establish under most stands of southern
bottomland hardwoods; sugarberry is shade tolerant. It will respond
when released, and can outgrow more desirable forest species. When
established in the understory it has a very poor form (limby, short-
boled, crooked or forked) [5,36].

Sugarberry will naturally invade oak plantations, establishing at a rate
of up to 43 stems per acre (105/ha) on 4- to 8-year-old sites [1].

Sugarberry commonly follows eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides var.
deltoides) and black willow (Salix nigra) in succession on new land
created by rivers [31,48,54]. In succession on land disturbed by gravel
pit operations, sugarberry codominated 47-year-old sites with eastern
redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) but did not occur in large numbers on
younger sites, and may be replaced by winged elm and post oak (Quercus
stellata) on more advanced sites [40]. On Florida tree hammocks,
disturbances such as fire, hurricanes or logging that do not destroy the
roots of young hardwoods are likely to result in canopies containing
sweetgum, hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), oaks (Quercus spp.), and
sugarberry [58].

In a well documented series of studies, Van Auken, Bush and their
associates [6,7,53,55,56,57] have demonstrated that sugarberry is an
important species in secondary succession on terraces of the San Antonio
River in Texas. Abandoned farmland is colonized first by huisache
(Acacia smallii), a light-requiring leguminous shrub. Sugarberry is
present in early seres, but its growth is suppressed by the low nitrogen
levels of the soils (but not, as is often the case, by the low light
levels). In fact, sugarberry grows better under huisache canopies than
in the open. As huisache matures, the soil nitrogen levels increase,
and sugarberry grows faster and eventually overtops huisache, which dies
out due to high nitrogen and low light levels. Sugarberry either
remains dominant, or is eventually overtopped by other tolerant
hardwoods. They conclude that sugarberry is a late successional species
that needs high soil nitrogen, and is capable of growing in shade, but
can grow in distrubed areas or grasslands at reduced rates depending on
the presence of competition and soil nitrogen levels.

Old-growth stands may include sugarberry as an important overstory
species [41]. However, Robertson and Weaver [46] found that in an
Illinois old-growth stand of sweetgum, green ash, and red maple,
sugarberry was represented in the overstory but not in the reproduction
layers (no seedlings or saplings). An adjacent plot in the later stages
of secondary succession (about 75 years old) had some seedlings, but no
saplings in the reproduction layer. Both the old-growth (implied climax
vegetation) and the seral plots had similar basal areas of mature
sugarberry. One can infer from these reports that perhaps sugarberry
regeneration does not occur at a rate sufficient to maintain its
numbers. Once the canopy is mature and other tolerant hardwoods are
recruited, sugarberry numbers will decrease.

More info for the term: natural

Sexual reproduction: Sugarberry is polygamo-monoecious [2,5].
Individuals usually first produce seeds at 15 years; optimum seedbearing
years are from 30 to 70 years of age. Good seed crops are produced most
years, some individuals produce good crops every year. There are
approximately 2,000 to 2,400 cleaned seeds per pound (4,400- 5,300/kg)
[5]. Seeds have an innate dormancy, requiring cold stratification at 41
degrees Fahrenheit ( 5 deg C) for 60 to 90 days [2]. Vora [60] found
that sugarberry seeds germinated best with no treatments other than cold
stratification (i.e. acid scarification or gibberellic acid addition).

Sugarberry seeds are dispersed by mammals, birds and by water.
Seedlings are intolerant of flooding [5,36].

Sugarberry tends to grow slowly; the average 10-year diameter increase
in natural stands is 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). The best growth rates are
found in dominant trees at 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) in 10 years [36].

Vegetative reproduction: Sugarberry can be propagated by cuttings.
Small stumps sprout readily [5,36].

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the term: tree

Tree

Sugarberry is classed as tolerant  of shade. It grows fast when released and often outgrows more  desirable forest species (5). Sugarberry becomes established in  the understory and generally has very poor form in this  situation. In dense, even-aged stands, however, it prunes itself  well and produces a straight stem.

Sugarberry is a relatively shallow-rooted  tree and does not develop a distinct taproot. The root system is  saucer-shaped with good lateral root development. The tree is  about average in resistance to windthrow.

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: tree

Sugarberry flowers when the leaves first appear in spring, from March to
May, depending on latitude. Fruit appears in July and August, ripening
into October. The fruit is retained on the tree until midwinter [2].
Most or all leaves are lost by mid-December in the Rio Grande Valley,
Texas [63].

Flowering late spring-early fall (May-Oct).

Sugarberry can be propagated by  cuttings (7). Small stumps sprout readily, and there is some  sprouting from root collars of fire-damaged seedlings and  saplings.

Sugarberry seeds lie dormant over  winter and germinate early in the spring. Germination is epigeal  (1). The seedlings become established under most stands of  southern bottom land hardwoods. Best natural conditions for  germination are moist, loamy soil, but the species is found  mostly on clay soils. First-year growth usually produces a very  slender but tough stem, 20 to 46 cm (8 to 18 in) in height. Under  shade, the young seedling develops a crooked, short stem, often  forked within a few feet of the ground. In the open, it tends to  be very limby and short boled. Sugarberry is considered  intolerant of flooding, at least in the seedling stage (2,3,4).

Seed production starts  when trees are about 15 years old (7). Optimum seed-bearing age  is from 30 to 70 years old. Sugarberry bears good seed crops in  most years and some nearly every year. There are between 4,400  and 5,300 cleaned seeds per kilogram (2,000 to 2,400/lb). The  seed is widely dispersed by birds and water.

    Mature fruits can be picked by hand from trees as late as  midwinter. Collection is easier after trees have completely  dropped their leaves. Branches of sugarberry can be flailed to  knock the fruits onto sheets of plastic or other suitable  material spread under the trees.

    If seeds are to be used for seedling production in a nursery, then  both fall sowing of untreated seeds and spring sowing of  stratified seeds are satisfactory. Seeds may be broadcast or  drilled in rows and should be covered with 6 to 13 mm (0.25 to  0.5 in) of firmed soil. Beds should be covered with bird screens  until germination starts. Experience at the Southern Hardwoods  Laboratory, Stoneville, MS, has shown that if spring sowing is  used, the seeds should be depulped before storage, dried to 8 to  10 percent moisture content, and stored in 6-mil-thick plastic  bags or equivalent storage containers until stratification. Seeds  should be stratified in moist sand or other suitable media for 60  to 90 days before sowing in the nursery. The seeds can be  depulped by wet maceration. Depulping is not essential, but it  has been reported to aid germination (1). Average germinative  capacity is reported to be 55 percent for sugarberry.

The small, greenish flowers appear  with the leaves in the early spring-from mid-March to May,  depending on latitude (1). Sugarberry is polygamo-monoecious. The  fruit ripens in September and October, and often remains on the  trees until midwinter. Sugarberry fruits are spherical drupes 6  to 13 mm (0.25 to 0.5 in) in diameter with a thin pulp enclosing  a single bony nutlet. Late spring frosts sometimes kill the  flowers and reduce the seed crop.

Sugarberry is a small- to medium-sized  tree. It often attains a height of 24 to 30 in (80 to 100 ft) at  maturity. On best sites, 10-year diameter growth can be in excess  of 6 cm (2.5 in) for dominant trees (9). The overall average is  about 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) in 10 years. On average sites,  mature forest-grown trees average about 46 cm (18 in) in diameter  and 24 in (80 ft) in height, with trunks clear of branches for  approximately 9 m (30 ft).

    An accurate estimate of the total growing stock is available for  only a limited portion of the sugarberry range. Because of its  scattered occurrence, forest surveys usually include sugarberry  in a group of other species with limited frequencies. The only  region containing enough sugarberry of sawtimber size to list  separately is the Mississippi Delta (10). The principal States  producing commercial quantities of sugarberry are Louisiana,  Mississippi, and Arkansas. These States contain about 16 million  m³ (560 million ft³) and about 9.4 million m³  (1,650 million fbm) of sugarberry sawtimber. In 1965, a rough  estimate of the total sawtimber resource in the United States was  in excess of 10.0 million m' (2,000 million fbm).

Sugarberry seems to present a considerable number of local  variations that have prompted some botanists to name a number of  varieties, while other botanists feel the distinctions are too  slight to warrant such status (13).

    Some varieties listed are Texas sugar hackberry, C. laevigata  var. texana; Uvalde sugar hackberry, C. laevigata  var. brachyphylla; scrub sugar hackberry, C.  laevigata var. anomala; small sugar hackberry, C.  laevigata var. smallii; Arizona sugar hackberry, C.  laevigata var. brevipes; net-leaf sugar hackberry,  C. laevigata var. reticulata.

    There are no known races or hybrids of sugarberry.

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: T4 - Apparently Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: T5 - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

Grown in its native habitat and using local seed stock, sugarberry should not be prone to debilitating pests.

More info for the terms: basal area, presence, tree

In dense even-aged stands, sugarberry will self-prune and produce a
straight stem [5].

In cottonwood (Populus spp.) stands on alluvium, sugarberry (usually
with poor growth forms) will take over openings created when cottonwoods
are cut, and control sites that managers would prefer to be in more
valuable species [30]. On a site that was logged then seeded with Nuttall
oak (Quercus nuttallii), sugarberry (probably carried in by animals)
naturally established in sufficient numbers to make up one of four species
accounting for 83 percent of stems [33,39].

Sugarberry is susceptible to damage by ice, which breaks main stems and
branches [5].

Defoliation of sugarberry by hackberry butterfly (Asterocampa celtis)
has been reported, though no tree death or crown die-back was observed.
Hackberry butterfly can be controlled by spraying trees with
insecticides [5].

Sugarberry is used as an ornamental, even though leaf leachate can
reduce growth of grasses under the trees due to the presence of ferulic,
caffeic, and p-coumaric acids [5].

Good stands of sugarberry are able to establish naturally after logging
[22]. In a study of logging practices in Mississippi, sugarberry
reached the highest densities in regeneration after all sawtimber-sized
stems were removed and either all stems greater than 2 inches in d.b.h.
(5 cm) were injected with 2,4-D or stems of desirable species left
untreated with 2,4-D. Sugarberry was considered a desirable species in
this study [29]. Seven years after clearcutting on a site where
sugarberry was a canopy dominant, sugarberry accounted for 32 percent of
total regeneration stems [23]. After patch clearcutting, sugarberry
dominated both sapling and seedling regeneration on a site where, prior
to harvest, it had been second in basal area (after sweetgum) [25].

Sugarberry has no major diseases of the twigs and leaves, but eastern
mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) may cause serious damage in the
western part of sugarberry's range [5].

These materials are readily available from commercial plant sources. Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone book under ”United States Government.” The Natural Resources Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading “Department of Agriculture.”

Sugarberry mixed with hackberry supplies the lumber known as  hackberry. Small amounts are used for dimension stock, veneer,  and containers, but the main use of sugarberry wood is for  furniture. The light-colored wood can be given a light- to  medium-brown finish that in other woods must be achieved by  bleaching.

    The dry sweet fruit is eaten by at least 10 species of birds, as  well as other game and nongame animals (13).

    Sugarberry is often used for street planting in the lower South  and is also used as an ornamental in residential areas. A problem  in such use is that leachates from the leaves reduce germination  and growth of a number of grasses under the trees (6). These  leachates have been identified in the soil as ferulic acid,  caffeic acid, and p-coumaric acid.

Ethnobotanic: Sugarberry was used by a variety of Native American tribes. The Houma used a concentrate made from the bark to treat sore throats and a decoction made from the bark and ground up shells to treat venereal disease. The Comanche would beat the fruits of sugarberry to a pulp. The pulp was then mixed with animal fat, rolled into balls, and roasted in the fire for food. The Acoma, Navajo, and Tewa all consumed the berries for food. The Navajo boiled the leaves and branches to make dark brown and red dye for wool.