HACKBERRY (variant of hagberry, hey berry, from hag, AS. haga, Dutch haag, Ger. Hag, fence, coppice + berry), also called SUGAR-BERRY, NETTLE-TREE, Hoop-Asic, and HAGBERRY. A num ber of trees and shrubs which belong to the natural order Urticacen, the species of which are distributed throughout the Noithern Hem isphere. The best-known species are Celtis oc cidentalis and Celtis Mississippiensis of the United States. The former ranges from Canada to Tennessee, and westward to the Pacific. It is a large tree, which attains a height of 120 feet or more, and three feet in diameter. In habit of growth the tree somewhat resembles the white elm, but the bark is rougher and the branches are nearer the horizontal. It is of rapid growth, and is well adapted to park and general planting. The wood is heavy, rather soft, and coarse grained. The heart-wood is brown, the thick sap-wood yellow. It is adapted to about the same uses as the elm. The latter species, to which the name sugar-berry is more generally given, is a somewhat smaller tree of more south ern range. Celtis australis, sometimes called
lotus-tree, is a. species common in the Mediter ranean region, and found in India. It attains a height of 60 feet or more, but is not hardy in the north. Its wood is extensively used for furni ture, carving, etc., and its drupe-like fruits are edible. Celtis bungeana,, a North China species, with dark green glossy leaves, is a hardy tree in northern latitudes.
HACKrEE (in imitation of the cry of the ani mal). A name for the chipmunk (q.v.), found in the books of Richardson, Godman, Audubon, and other early writers, and perhaps once in popular use in the Southern States, but now rarely heard. The same may be said of `chicka ree,' a name given to the red squirrel (Sciurus Hudsonius), according to Audubon, on account of its chattering note.