American hackberry

American hackberry is an attractive American hardwood, relatively unknown outside the USA.

Latin Name

Celtis occidentalis

Other Common Names

sugarberry

American_hackberry_big

American hackberry trees, are tolerant of a wide range of soils, so are quite widespread in the USA, growing in naturally regenerated forests mainly in the central and southern States, not to be confused with Mississippi hackberry (C. tenuifolia) that grows mainly near the Gulf coast. The trees of common hackberry can grow large, tall and straight with few lower branches for 70 feet yielding clear lumber. 

FOREST GROWTH

FIA data shows U.S. hackberry growing stock is 138 million m3, 1.0% of total U.S. hardwood growing stock. Hackberry is growing 4.3 million m3 per year while the harvest is 1.2 million m3 per year. The net volume (after harvest) is increasing 3.1 million m3 each year. Hackberry growth rates are well above harvest rates in all significant producing states.

Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming Average annual growth, m3 0 3.5K
Back to whole of U.S. 0-20K 20K-40K 40K-60K 60K-80K 80K-100K 100K-120K > 120K Average annual growth, m3 0 200K
-15K -10K -5K 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -10K -9K -8K -7K -6K -5K -4K -3K -2K -1K 0 1K 2K 3K 4K 5K 6K 7K 8K 9K 10K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -2000 -1750 -1500 -1250 -1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ Removals 0 Growth 0 Net growth 0
0 200K 400K 600K 800K 1M 1.2M FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 40K 80K 120K 160K 200K 240K 280K 320K 360K 400K 440K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K 100K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 4K 8K 12K 16K 20K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ Forest volume 0

LCA Tool


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it takes seconds to grow 1m³ of
The replacement rate is calculated from total U.S. annual increment of the specified hardwood species derived from the U.S. Forest Service Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and assumes that 2m³ of logs is harvested to produce 1m³ of lumber (i.e. 50% conversion efficiency). The rapid rate of replacement is due to the very large volume of hardwood trees in U.S. forest.

Hackberry is only available in very limited volumes of sawn lumber in export grades, and mostly as thinner material (4/4” & 5/4”) and produced mainly in the Southern USA. Veneer may also be available from specialist suppliers. 

The wood of hackberry is similar to elm to which it is related, but although heavy is fairly soft and not very strong. The irregular coarse grain may be straight and sometimes interlocked, but it has a fine uniform texture. There is little difference between the sap and the heartwood which are yellowish grey to light brown in colour throughout. 

Mechanical Properties

The wood of hackberry is moderately hard and heavy with good bending strength, but low in compression. It has high shock resistance and good steam bending classification, but is low in stiffness.

  • 0.53

    Specific Gravity (12% M.C.)

    593 kg/m3

    Average Weight (12% M.C.)

    13.50%

    Average Volume Shrinkage (Green to 6% M.C.)

    76.535 MPa

    Modulus of Rupture

    8,205 MPa

    Modulus of Elasticity

    37.509 MPa

    Compressive strength (parallel to grain)

    3,914 N

    Hardness
Oiled
hackberry_oiled
Un-oiled
hackberry_unoiled
  • Hackberry planes and turns well, but is intermediate in its ability to hold nails and screws. It stains and polishes to a satisfactory standard.  It dries easily with minimum degrade, but has high shrinkage and may be susceptible to movement in performance. Hackberry is susceptible to blue stain before and after kilning, so lumber purchased in the USA may be surfaced (planed) pre-shipment.

     
  • The wood is non-resistant to heartwood decay and moderately resistant to preservative treatment.

Common hackberry is used for furniture and kitchen cabinets, internal joinery, doors and mouldings. It is also used as a substitute for ash.

Mouldings
Furniture
Doors
Cabinets
Substitute For Other Timbers