Hack'berry, also called nettle tree, sugar berry and hoop ash, the name of a number of trees which belong to the same family as the nettles and which are found in various parts of the northern hemisphere. The best known species is a large tree which grows in the Western United States. It has a rough bark and nearly horizontal branches, and it may be used in much the same way as the elm. There are two species, of which the smaller, more generally known as the sugar berry, grows in the southwestern part of the United States.