''Celtis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 60–70 species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, in the hemp family

Cannabaceae Cannabaceae is a small family of flowering plants, known as the hemp family. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including '' Cannabis'' (hemp), '' Humulus'' (hops) and '' Celtis'' (hackberri ...

. It has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

Description

''Celtis'' species are generally medium-sized trees, reaching tall, rarely up to tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, long,

ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe * Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd * Vates or ovate, a term for ancient Celtic bards ...

acuminate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, and evenly serrated margins. Diagnostically, ''Celtis'' can be very similar to trees in the

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...

and other rose motif families. Small flowers of this

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

plant appear in early spring while the leaves are still developing. Male flowers are longer and hairy. Female flowers are greenish and more rounded. The fruit is a small

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

in diameter, edible in many species, with a dryish but sweet, sugary consistency, reminiscent of a date.

Taxonomy

Previously included either in the

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

family (

Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family (biology), family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the Temperate, north temperate zone, and ha ...

) or a separate family, Celtidaceae, the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a f ...

places ''Celtis'' in an expanded hemp family (Cannabaceae).

Phylogeny

Members of the genus are present in the fossil record as early as the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Europe, and

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

of North America and eastern Asia.

Etymology

The derivation of the name of this genus, ''

Celtis ''Celtis'' is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, in the hemp family Cannabaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution. Description ''Celtis'' species are generally medium-sized tree ...

'', is from a Latin word for an unrelated plant, the "lotus tree" of North Africa. The word was applied to this taxon by Linnaeus for unknown reasons.

Species

, the following 68 species are accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

Removed from genus

* ''Trema cannabina'' (as ''C. amboinensis'' ) * '' Trema lamarckianum'' (as ''C. lamarckiana'' ) * '' Trema orientalis'' (as ''C. guineensis'' or ''C. orientalis'' ) * '' Trema tomentosa'' (as ''C. aspera'' or ''C. tomentosa'' )

Distribution and habitat

The genus is widespread throughout tropical and temperate parts of the world, occurring on all continents except Antarctica.

Ecology

Some species, including common hackberry ('' C. occidentalis'') and '' C. brasiliensis'', are honey plants and a pollen source for honeybees of lesser importance.

Lepidoptera

''Celtis'' species are used as food plants by the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of certain

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. These include mainly brush-footed butterflies, most importantly the distinct genus ''

Libythea ''Libythea'' is a widespread genus of Nymphalidae, nymphalid butterfly, butterflies commonly called beaks or snouts. They are strong fliers and may even be migratory. Classification * Source The higher classification of Nymphalidae, at Nympha ...

'' (beak butterflies) and some Apaturinae (emperor butterflies): * ''

Acytolepis puspa ''Acytolepis puspa'', the common hedge blue,

'' – common hedge blue, recorded on Chinese hackberry (''C. sinensis'') * '' Automeris io'' – Io moth, recorded on southern hackberry ('' C. laevigata'') * '' Asterocampa celtis'' – hackberry butterfly or hackberry emperor * ''

Libythea celtis ''Libythea celtis'', the European beak or nettle-tree butterfly, is a butterfly of the Libytheinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family. Description The upperside ground colour is rich silky brown. The forewing has the cell filled ...

'' – European beak * '' Libythea labdaca'' – African beak * '' Libythea lepita'' – common beak * ''

Libythea myrrha ''Libythea myrrha'', the club beak, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the Libytheinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family found in the Indomalayan realm. Description Variable in the extent and breadth of the orange-yellow ...

'' – club beak, recorded on '' C. tetrandra'' * ''

Libytheana carinenta The American snout or common snout butterfly (''Libytheana carinenta'') is a member of the subfamily Libytheinae in the brush-footed butterfly family (biology), family, Nymphalidae. This species is found in both North and South America. The larv ...

'' – American snout or common snout butterfly * '' Nymphalis xanthomelas'' – scarce tortoiseshell, recorded on European hackberry ('' C. australis'') * '' Sasakia charonda'' – great purple emperor, recorded on '' C. jessoensis'' and ''C. sinensis'' * A putative new

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

of the two-barred flasher (''Astraptes fulgerator'')

cryptic species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, provisionally called "CELT," has hitherto only been found on '' C. iguanaea''.

Pathogens

The

plant pathogen Plant diseases are diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like orga ...

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basid ...

fungus '' Perenniporia celtis'' was first described from a ''Celtis'' host plant. Some species of ''Celtis'' are threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Uses

Several species are grown as ornamental trees, valued for their drought tolerance. They are a regular feature of arboreta and botanical gardens, particularly in North America. Chinese hackberry ('' C. sinensis'') is suited for bonsai culture; a magnificent specimen in Daegu-myeon is one of the natural monuments of South Korea. The berries are generally edible when they ripen and fall. ''C. occidentalis'' fruit was used by the

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, eaten casually, as well as the

Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultur ...

, who pounded them fine, seeds and all. The

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

used the pounded fruits in combination with fat and parched corn. The berries of '' C. douglasii'' are also edible, and were consumed by the

Mescalero Apaches Mescalero or Mescalero Apache () is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central New Mexico. In ...

. Hackberry wood is sometimes used in cabinetry and woodworking.

Gallery

File:Celtis aetnensis.jpg, ''C. aetnensis'' with mature fruit File:Celtis-caucasica-fruit.JPG, Caucasian hackberry (''C.caucasica'') with immature fruit File:Celtis integrifolia.jpg, African hackberry (''C.integrifolia'') File:Celtis sinensis=Chinese Hackberry.jpg, Chinese hackberry (''C.sinensis'') File:Celtis australis-StSauveur-4925~2015 10 31.JPG, ''C. australis'' autumn leaves

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Plants used in bonsai Rosales genera