Description

Leaves: Alternate; simple; broadly ovate; 1" to 3" long and 1" to 2" wide; deciduous; entire margin or with a few teeth; acuminate apex; rounded base; thick; light green and rough or smooth above; lighter beneath with obvious reticulated or net-like small veins; petiole 1/8" to 1/2" long.

Twigs/buds: Twigs slender; gray-brown.  No terminal bud; lateral buds small, pointed, pressed against the twig.

Flowers/fruit: Polygamo-monoecious.  Fruit a drupe; 1/4" in diameter; round; yellow to orange-red; one per stem; on stalks 1/2" to 3/4" long; ripen in fall.

Bark: Thick, red-brown to gray-brown; smooth when young; develops short ridges somewhat like common hackberry when older.

Wood: Little known or used; ring-porous; likely similar to common hackberry.

General: Native to scattered areas of the West and Southwest, including much of Utah.  Found on dry foothill or valley sites.  Intermediate shade tolerance.

Landscape Use: This native hackberry is rarely planted in Utah and is not easy to obtain.  It would be a good candidate where little supplemental water will be available and where a large tree is not needed.  Expect a slow to moderate growth rate.  Zones 5(4?)-9.

Characteristics