Sugar Hackberry
Texas tough – drought resistant and soil types, native, deciduous
Found all over park, but more common in upland areas, understory tree, perhaps 20-25 % of all trees in park are hackberries
Hackberry fruits have a thin, very sweet purple skin surrounding a crunchy shell with a tiny nut inside. All hackberries are edible and highly nutritious. Berries liked by animals, critical winter food supply for deer, raccoon, and many species of birds
Food balls - Comanche would beat the fruits of sugarberry to a pulp. The pulp was then mixed with animal fat, rolled into balls, and roasted in the fire for food. Houma used a concentrate made from the bark to treat sore throats
The Acoma (New Mexico), Navajo, and Tewa (New Mexico) all consumed the berries for food. Navajo boiled the leaves and branches to make dark brown and red dye for wool.
Age 100-150 years
Top of leaf is rough surface, edges of leaf smooth Celtis laevigata AKA sugarberry, Southern hackberry
Sugar Hackberry coverage map