ULMACEAE 



The Hagkberries 

 Characteristics of the Genus Celtis L. 



HABIT. Shrubs or trees often planted for shade or orna- 

 mentals; irregularly pinnate branching. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; lanceolate to ovate; acute or 

 acuminate at apex; often oblique at base; serrate or entire mar- 

 gins; membranaceous or subcoriaceous; deciduous; mostly long 

 petiolate; stipules thin, caducous, fugacious, enclosing leaf in 

 bug. 



FLOWERS. Regular polygamo-monoecious or rarely mo- 

 noecious; minute; the staminate in fascicles toward the base of 

 twig; above these the pistillate or perfect, solitary or in few- 

 flowered fascicles; pedicellate; appearing soon after the un- 

 folding of the leaves; calyx 4—5 lobed, green-yellow, deciduous; 

 corolla absent; stamens as many as calyx lobes and opposite 

 them; ovary 1 -celled, ovoid, sessile, green and lustrous. 



FRUIT. Subglobose or ovoid drupe; tipped with remnants 

 of style; thick firm skin; thin, pulpy flesh; nutlet bony, thick- 

 walled, reticulate-pitted; ripening in autumn and often re- 

 maining long after leaves fall. Seed: filling cavity in nutlet. 



TWIGS. Round; unarmed or spinose. Winter buds: termi- 

 nal absent; lateral small, scaly; branchlets prolonged by an 

 upper lateral bud. 



BARK. Usually gray and smooth, sometimes with conspicu- 

 ous, corky, warty excrescenses. 



WOOD. Rather heavy; fairly hard; not strong; odorless; 

 ring-porous; moderately important; often sold as elm. 



GENERAL. This genus consists of about 70 species scat- 

 tered through the north temperate and tropical regions; 5 tree 

 species and several varieties have been listed for the United 

 States; native species often disfigured by gall-making insects 

 distorting the buds and producing broomlike clusters of branch- 

 lets; this genus is in a confused state and needs revision; dis- 

 tributions have not been accurately determined. 



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