Podcast
Welcome to When Trees Talk. Today’s show is about the Chinese Hackberry tree. Everyone should learn about this magnificent tree, whose sap is notorious in Davis. The Chinese Hackberry scientific name is Celtis sinensis from the family Cannabaceae. There are about 170 species in this family. The three most well know genera are Cannabis (hemp), Humulus (hops) and Celtis (hackberry). They are a dicot tree as well as most trees this means it has two cotyledons in a seed. There are many different types of hackberry trees although they are a relatively similar. The Chinese Hackberry is a little smaller than the common hackberry and is 50 feet tall and has a tree span of 20 to 30 feet.
Now let’s talk about the parts of the tree in detail. The bark is a light brown to silver gray color. The bark looks rough because of the broken pieces on the surface. The leaves are approximately 2 ½ inches long and are in an alternate leaf pattern. The flowers are Polygamo-monoecious. This means they have the staminate the male part of the flower and the pistillate the female part of the flowers on the same plant. The male flower is longer and fuzzy and the female flower is greenish and rounded. The fruit is a fleshy drupe. A drupe is a type of flower that has an outer skin and shell with a seed inside. They are dark purple in color.
As the name suggests, the tree is native to China as well as Japan and Korea. Now they are grown all over the world.
It is a hardy tree that can with stand droughts although they do not like foggy weather. They also love sunny or partially sunny locations. It is a deciduous tree meaning it loses the leaves in the fall. The tree needs to be watered 15 to 20 gallons twice a month.
The Chinese Hackberry is a very important tree. It is used for beautification, and can also help with wind protection in fields.
In Davis there is a big problem with the Asian Woolly Aphid. They eat the phloem of the tree and poop out a very sticky messy substance that gets on cars and sidewalks. The root bark can be used for healing purpose. Hopefully now after listening to this inspiring program I you will always remember this magnificent tree.