One of my neighbors wants to cut down an old hackberry tree with quite a few dead branches, but fears it is a protected species here in Ontario. Everyone seems to agree, but I can't find an official reference. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks.
Dwarf hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia) is listed as a threatened species. The more common and much larger Common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) is safe in Ontario. A really big Dwarf Hackberry is would be 25' to 30' tall and is neither native to Ottawa or planted as an ornamental tree so you are probably dealing with Common Hackberry.
I don't know the differences well enough to describe them. Dwarf Hackberry is native to only to 6 very small spots in Ontario, all near Lake Erie, southern Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario. 30' is essentially a record size tree.
