URTICACEAE 



Hackberry. Nettle-tree 



Celtis occidentalis^ L. 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree, 40-60 feet high, with a 

 short, straight trunk 1-2 feet in diameter which branches a few 

 feet from the ground into a few large limbs and many slender, 

 horizontal, zigzag branches, forming a broad, rounded crown. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 2-4 inches long and one-half 

 as broad; ovate to ovate-lanceolate, oblique at the base, usually 

 long-pointed; coarsely serrate above the entire base; thin; glab- 

 rous, light green above, paler beneath, turning light yellow late 

 in autumn ; petioles short, slender, hairy. 



FLOWERS. May, with or soon after the leaves; polygamo- 

 monoecious ; greenish ; inconspicuous ; on slender pedicels ; the 

 staminate in clusters at the base of the shoot, the pistillate usually 

 solitary in the axils of the .upper leaves; calyx greenish, deeply 

 5-lobed; corolla o; stamens 5; ovary i-celled. 



FRUIT. September-October, remaining on the tree through 

 the winter; slender-stalked, fleshy, globular drupes, y^ inch 

 long, dark purple; edible. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud absent; lateral buds light 

 brown, Y$ inch long, ovoid, acute, flattened, the tip appressed. 



BARK. Twigs greenish, puberulous, becoming lustrous, red- 

 brown in their first winter; on old trunks thick, light brown or 

 silvery gray, broken into deep, short ridges or warty excrescen- 

 ces. 



W'OOD. 'Heavy, soft, coarse-grained, weak, light yellow, 

 with thick, whitish sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Common throughout the Lower Penin- 

 sula. 



HABITAT. Prefers rich, moist, well-drained soil, but will 

 grow on gravelly or rocky hillsides. Common along river banks. 



NOTES. Hardy throughout its range. Grows slowly and 

 irregularly in youth. Easily transplanted. Not desirable as a 

 street tree, but appears well in ornamental grounds. Very toler- 

 ant of shade. 



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