URTICACEAE 
Hackberry. Nettle-tree 
Celtis occidentalis L. 
HABIT.—A medium-sized tree, 40-60 feet thigh, 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, 
horizontai, 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 0; stamens 5; ovary I-celled. 
FRUIT.—September-October, remaining on the tree through 
the winter; slender-stalked, fleshy, globular drupes, %4 inch 
long, dark purple; edible. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds light 
brown, 4% inch long, ovoid, acute, flattened, thé 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 excrescences. 
WOOD.—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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