Tree · Ulmaceae
Common hackberry
Celtis occidentalis
Common hackberry is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,251 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common hackberry at a glance
- Native in
- 1,251 counties, across 36 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −47°F
- Mature height
- 60 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −47°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common hackberry is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,251 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,251 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 64 counties
- Arkansas 35 counties
- Colorado 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 15 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 68 counties
- Iowa 8 counties
- Kansas 88 counties
- Kentucky 104 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 27 counties
- Minnesota 49 counties
- Mississippi 15 counties
- Missouri 98 counties
- Nebraska 44 counties
- New Hampshire 4 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 3 counties
- New York 38 counties
- North Carolina 6 counties
- North Dakota 19 counties
- Ohio 79 counties
- Oklahoma 72 counties
- Pennsylvania 46 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Dakota 14 counties
- Tennessee 34 counties
- Texas 9 counties
- Vermont 7 counties
- Virginia 83 counties
- West Virginia 34 counties
- Wisconsin 40 counties
- Wyoming 3 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 60 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 36 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Ulmaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CEOC
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Celtis occidentalis (PLANTS symbol CEOC).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources