On a recent hike, my son joked that we could identify one type of tree by recognizing the butterflies hanging around it.

The butterflies were the Empress Leilias,

and American snout butterflies.

Can you guess the tree?

In this case it was the desert hackberry, Celtis pallida.

Unlike its relative the netleaf hackberry (previous post), the desert hackberry keeps its leaves all winter long.  When ripe, the bright orange fruit are a favorite of many species of birds.

A tree that supports both birds and butterflies, doesn’t require much water, and is green all year? Sounds like a wonderful choice for desert landscaping!