Common hackberry, Celtis occidentalis, is
similar to the more southerly distributed sugarberry, C. laevigata, and with a key difference being nearly an order of magnitude greater number of
teeth per inch on the leaves of the former. A smaller species, dwarf hackberry, C.
tenuifolia, has a reported range in Alabama that is inversely proportional to the distance from the University of Alabama despite another common name Georgia hackberry. Meanwhile further to the south there is iguana hackberry, C.
iguanaea, where the difference seems to be the amount
of warts on the otherwise smooth gray bark. Birds relish the small berry
like drupes of all species thus they can be very messy for this secondary reason. The recognized state champs are common hackberry at 67 feet tall, 176 inches circumference, and an average canopy spread of 93 feet and Georgia hackberry a co-national champion at 54 feet tall, 37 inch circumference, and a 31 feet limb spread, and the national champion sugarberry at 82 feet height, 221 inches circumference, and 36 feet average width of the dripline.
