Identifying and Foraging Edible Berries – Desert Hackberry

These are berries from a Desert Hackberry bush (Celtis pallida), one of many that I come across on my walks. The berries are small, orange and semi-sweet containing a few usually stomachable seeds within. An easy fruit to identify and collect if in need of food in the wild.

Desert hackberry is an extremely drought tolerant, spiny, sprawling shrub native to South Texas and the Chihuahuan desert. Its stout thorns, dense branches, and sweet, edible, small orange berries in the fall make it extremely valuable for wildlife food and cover. It is also useful for erosion control, and because of its dense habit it could be useful as a screen, background or informal hedge. The small, inch-long, oval leaves are evergreen to 20 degrees F, and its smooth, gray branches grow in a zigzag pattern. Desert hackberry grows best in full sun and can tolerate varied soils, as long as they are well-drained. Cactus wrens, green jays, coyotes, jackrabbits and many other birds and mammals love the tasty fruit, and white-tailed deer browse the stems and foliage. It is a host to butterfly larvae and is good honey plant as well.