hackberry, Celtis occidentalis

Perfect? Generally speaking, flowers come three ways; only pistillate, only staminate, or with both female and male parts. The latter are called perfect flowers. With hackberry, we get all three. Here we see a perfect hackberry flower. The peculiar looking fuzzy part is the pistil. Other than its occasionally perfect flowers, hackberry is kind of a ho-hum tree. Its wood is soft and rots quickly. The tree is not very ornamental. Not a lot of birds eat the thin fleshed berries. Most other animals can't reach them. Indians occasionally used the berries, smashing them pits and all to use in cooking or preserves. Common hackberry grows in AL, AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH(T), NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY, MB, ON, and QC. Ives Fen Preserve, Lenawee Co MI, 5/12/16. Hemp family, Cannabinaceae.