Tree of the Week

Hackberry, Celtis occidentalis L.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: Leaves simple, alternate, ovate, 2 1/2 to 4 inches long with petioles 1/3 to 1/2 inch long; margins toothed (sometimes entire at the base); veins forming a network near the margin, the largest three meeting in a single point at the base. Winter twigs very slender, light brown to gray-brown, usually glabrous; pith chambered at the nodes; leaf scars very small, half-round, with 3 (sometimes 1) bundle scars. Buds about 1/8 inch long, ovoid to triangular, closely appressed to the twig, the terminal absent; visible bud scales usually 3 or 4, light brown, finely and rather inconspicuously hairy. Flowers very small, greenish yellow, either perfect or imperfect, apetalous, on slender stalks, solitary or in small clusters from the axils or the newly unfolded leaves in spring. Fruit a dark purple drupe about 1/3 inch in diameter. Bark light to dark gray with distinctive warty outgrowths.

SIMILAR TREES: No other tree has ovate leaves with three veins meeting at the base. The hackberry's warty bark, which is present even on small trees, is also unique

IOWA DISTRIBUTION:Native throughout the state.

Forest and Shade Trees of Iowa: Third Edition, by Peter J. van der Linden and Donald R. Farrar

Library

Attention nature enthusiasts: The Iowa City Public Library has a free video library about eco-living, landscaping, plant identification, and more. Visit the online library here.

Winter Sport

Prairie blizzards have always hit wildlife hard. Even the bison, facing into the gales with winter-proofed heads and shoulders, suffered and died. Winter storms were probably one of the major checks that limited the vast herds before the arrival of gunpowder.

The blizzards can be tough on prairie deer which may starve, freeze, or even smother if they can't find shelter. In the wake of one Dakota blizzard, a game biologist friend found a blinded fawn standing near a road, its face covered with a mask of ice. He caught the little deer easily, broke away its icy blindfold, and freed it. Prairie deer usually drift before a blizzard and seek shelter in river breaks or in timbered creek bottoms. If those timbered bottoms are narrow, as they usually are, they can become deathtraps where the deer perish in twenty-foot drifts that bury browse and shelter.

The tough little pronghorn antelopes seem better fitted to brave prairie blizzards than are deer, for pronghorns tend to avoid such deadly little balleys. Given any freedom of movement, antelope may move uphill toward higher ground where ridges are swept clear of snow. There they can usually survive in spite of cold and wind, for they are superbly equipped with thick coats of hollow hair. Herds of healthy antelope can be found feeding on open ridges after a blizzard has decimated local deer.


Out Home by John Madson

Comfort Foods from Iowa

Oven Carmel Corn

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup Karp syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 quarts popped popcorn

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine margarine, brown sugar, syrup, and salt; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and baking soda. Pour over popped popcorn. Stir well. Spread in roaster in preheated oven for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Store in airtight containers. Makes 5 quarts.

Barb Bundt, Alvera Ruchti, Fran Schmidt, Lucile Stoelk, Mary Tjaden

A Cook's Tour of Iowa by Susan Puckett