''Celtis tenuifolia'', the dwarf hackberry or Georgia hackberry is a shrub or small tree . It is native to eastern North America but is very uncommon north of the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. In Canada, dwarf hackberry is designated as threatened and protected under Canada's

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (, SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. T ...

Characteristics

The leaves are alternate, simple, blades 5 to 7 centimeters long, and 2 to 3.5 centimeters in width, shallowly toothed, and finely hairy. The winter buds are brown and hairy, similar to those of other hackberries, but smaller, only 1 to 2 mm. long. Terminal buds absent. Plants are

monecious Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive st ...

with unisexual flowers, occurring either solitarily or in small clusters. This species is wind-pollinated and appears to be self-compatible. The fruit is a berry-like

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

, 5 to 8 millimeters in diameter, consisting of a single stone encased within a thin, sweet

mesocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather tha ...

. From green, it becomes a light orange, then a dark red, then purplish-brown. This edible mesocarp is composed of a smooth outer crust and a pulpy yellow inside.

Ecology and uses

Dwarf hackberry is shade intolerant,

drought tolerant In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

and slow-growing. It grows in dry upland habitats, including open woodlands,

alvar An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie ...

s, and sandy near-shore habitats. It is usually not found among other hackberries, although when other hackberry species occur in proximity to dwarf hackberry, intermediate forms may occur. Like other ''

Celtis ''Celtis'' is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, in the hemp family Cannabaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution. Description ''Celtis'' species are generally medium-sized tree ...

'' species, this species is a moderate calciphile, and is often found growing in thin soil over

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Songbirds and other wildlife eat the fruit, likely playing a role in local dispersal.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5058587 tenuifolia Trees of Northern America