are eaten by a number of birds, including robins and cedar waxwings, and mammals. Most seeds are dispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water. The tree serves as a butterfly larval host, particularly the hackberry emperor and the tawny emperor. Cultivation and uses Hackberry's wood is light yellow; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. It rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially, although it is occasionally used for fencing and cheap furniture. Hackberry is only occasionally used as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions makes it well suited to this role. Sombor in Serbia and Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, are known for the extensive use of hackberry (in the latter case along with closely related but Eurasian Celtis australis) as a street tree. The tree's pea-sized berries are edible, ripening in early September. Unlike most fruits, the berries are remarkably high in calories from fat, carbohydrate, and protein, and these calories are easily digestible without cooking or preparation. Omaha Native Americans ate the berries casually, while the Dakota used them as a flavor for meat, pounding them fine, seeds and all. The Pawnee also pounded the berries fine, added a little fat, and mixed them with parched corn. References Further reading External links Celtis occidentalis images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu occidentalis Trees of Manitoba Trees of Ontario Trees of Quebec Medicinal plants of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Trees of humid continental climate Trees of Eastern Canada Trees of the Eastern United States Trees of the North-Central United States Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Trees of the South-Central United States Trees of the Southeastern United States Trees of the United States Flora of Montana Flora of Colorado Flora of Wyoming Flora of Utah Trees of North America Trees of Canada Trees of the Southern United States