Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata)
3 September 2016
Walnut & Lane Streets
Decatur, Wise County, Texas
Observed a young Sugarberry in Decatur, Texas. Sugarberry occurs extensively as a native tree of medium height from British Columbia, Canada, in the Northwest south through Washington, Oregon, and California and presumably into Mexico and reaches east clear across the continent in its presence to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Coast as it is found from Illinois, Indiana and Ohio to West Virginia and Maryland on south through Florida and thence west through the Southeast and Southwest and northern Mexico. Except for the far southwest of Canada, this tree does not occur in Canada, as indicated. The range maps of the USDA Plants Database and the US Forest Service cited in this observation differ significantly as to the actual native range of this tree but essentially concur as to the eastern half of the US part of its range. It's easy to confuse this tree with Common Hackberry and presumably this is a common occurrence. Sugarberry is an authentic resident of the Western Hemisphere.
Sources:
“Celtis laevigata Willd. – Sugarberry,” Plants Database, US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, range map, description, classification, resources, accessed 9.10.16, http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=cela#
Kennedy, Jr., Harvey E., “Sugarberry,” US Forest Service, range map, description, bibliography, accessed 9.10.16, https://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/celtis/laevigata.htm
“Sugarberry,” 4-H Forest Resources, photographs, description, accessed 9.10.16, http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/4h/trees/Sugarberry/index.html