Photo: Unknown — Public domain · source
Survives zone 6 through 9
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
Hackberry — thin, sweet, date-like pulp on a hard seed.
- Hardiness
- Zone 6–9
- Habit
- Tree
- Edible part
- Seed, Fruit
- Ripens
- Autumn
- Mature size
- Large tree 20–25 m with a broad spreading crown — not containerable
- Light
- Full sun to partial
- Soil pH
- 6.0–8.0 (lime-tolerant)
- Environment
- Mediterranean
- Native range
- Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor — across the Mediterranean basin east to Iran, on dry slopes, roadsides and in old towns where it is much planted for shade.
- Status
- Both wild and cultivated
- Years to fruit
- 5–8 yrs
- Growth speed
- 40–60 cm/year — fast when young, and long-lived; venerable specimens are landmarks in Mediterranean towns.
- Spacing
- 1000 cm (394 in) apart — about 100 m² (1076 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Alternate, lanceolate and drawn out to a long point, 5–15 cm long, sharply saw-toothed, rough to the touch above and softly downy beneath.
- Root system
- Deep-rooting where soil allows, reaching 3–6 m on good ground, though a strong taproot forms only occasionally; on heavy or poorly drained soils the roots run laterally and stay shallow instead.
- Fruit description
- Round drupes about 6–10 mm across on stalks over 2.5 cm long, ripening from orange through dark purple to almost black; thin sweet flesh, long eaten out of hand around the Mediterranean.
- Propagation
- Seed is the standard route — clean the pulp off, then cold stratify moist for 60–90 days at about 4°C before spring sowing, or sow outdoors in autumn and let winter do the chilling.
- Pollination
- Wind-pollinated and polygamo-monoecious — male, female and perfect flowers all borne on the same tree — so a single specimen sets fruit with no partner needed. No insect pollinators are involved.
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Low feeding needs once established — mature trees rarely require fertilizer; a balanced slow-release feed in spring mainly benefits young, newly planted trees.
How it spreads. Self-seeds readily from bird-dispersed fruit and can turn up as an unwanted volunteer in the wider landscape; fallen fruit can also be a litter nuisance near paving.
Growing tips. Prone to witches' broom (a cosmetic fungal twig deformity, not seriously harmful); as the tree matures, prune back large co-dominant branches early to prevent included bark and weak crotches; otherwise notably tolerant of poor soils and urban conditions once established.
Grow journal
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