Celtis reticulata usually grows to a small-sized tree, in height and mature at in diameter, although some individuals are known up to high and thick. It is often scraggly, stunted or even a large bush. It grows at altitudes of . Hackberry
bark is gray to brownish gray with the trunk bark forming vertical corky ridges that are checkered between the furrows. The young twigs are
puberulent, or covered with very fine hairs. The blade of the
leaves can be long, usually about . They are
lanceolate to ovate, disproportionate at the base, leathery, entire to serrate (tending toward serrate), clearly net-veined, base obtuse to more or less cordate, tip obtuse to acuminate, and scabrous, with a dark green upper surface and a yellowish-green lower surface. The small stalks attaching the leaf blade to the stem (the
petioles) are generally about long. The flowers are very small, averaging 2 mm across. They form singly, or in
cymose clusters pedicel in fr 4–15 mm. The fruit is a rigid, brownish to purple berry, 5 to 12 mm in diameter, with thin, sweet pulp. If uneaten, they can stay on the plant through early winter.
Similar species C. reticulata is often confused with the related species
Celtis pallida, the spiny hackberry or desert hackberry,
Celtis occidentalis, the common hackberry, and
Celtis laevigata, the sugarberry or southern hackberry. ==Distribution and habitat==