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Celtis laevigata

(Net-Leaf Hackberry)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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The Houma used preparations from the bark of Celtis laevigata to treat sore throats and venereal disease (D. E. Moerman 1986). [source]

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Net-Leaf Hackberry, Netleaf Hackberry, Palo Blanco, Southern Hackberry, Sugar Berry, Sugar Hackberry, Sugar Hackberry Celtis Laevigata, Sugarberry, Texas Sugarberry

Common Names in unspecified:

Sugar Berry, Sugar Hackberry, Sugarberry

Description

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Family Cannabaceae

Herbs, annual or perennial , erect or twining , dioecious or sometimes monoecious, often with cystoliths (a hard calcium carbonate structure at base of a hair) . Stems furrowed or winged . Stipules free . Leaves alternate or opposite, palmately lobed or compound , sometimes simple . Male inflorescences a bracteate cymose panicle. Male flowers: pedicellate ; sepals 5, free; petals absent; stamens 5, opposite sepals; filaments short; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscent by longitudinal slits. Female inflorescences a bracteate spicate cyme much reduced in Cannabis, pendent or erect. Female flowers: sessile; calyx appressed to ovary, membranous; petals absent; ovary 1-loculed; ovule solitary, pendulous from locule apex; style 2-parted, branches filiform . Fruit an achene, covered by persistent calyx; endosperm fleshy ; embryo curved or spirally involute .

Two genera and four species: N Africa, Asia, Europe, North America; two genera and four species (one endemic) in China.

Because all the Chinese species in this family are cultivated and are often found naturalized in disturbed habitats , it is difficult to know the true wild distributions.

Cannabaceae has sometimes been included in Moraceae or Urticaceae but is now usually recognized as a distinct family. The subfamily Celtidoideae of Ulmaceae could possibly be included within Cannabaceae (see the discussion after the Ulmaceae family description ) .[1]

Genus Celtis

Trees or rarely shrubs , to 30 m ; crowns spreading . Bark usually gray, smooth or often fissured and conspicuously warty. Branches without or with thorns , slender, glabrous or pubescent . Leaves: stipules falling early. Leaf blade deltate to ovate to oblong-lanceolate, base oblique or cuneate to rounded , margins entire or serrate-dentate; venation 3(-5) -pinnate. Inflorescences: staminate inflorescences cymes or fascicles; pistillate solitary or few-flowered clusters . Flowers usually unisexual , staminate and pistillate on same plants , along with a few bisexual flowers, pedicellate on branches of current year, appearing in mid or late spring . Staminate flowers : filaments incurved in bud, exserted after anthesis ; gynoecium minute, rudimentary . Pistillate flowers: calyx slightly to deeply 4(-5) -lobed; stamens 4-5, inserted on pilose receptacle, included , often nonfunctional filaments usually shorter than in staminate flowers, rarely absent; anthers ovate, face to face in bud, extrorse ; ovaries sessile, ovoid , 1-locular; styles short, sessile, divided into 2 divergent, elongate , reflexed lobes , lobes entire or 2-cleft. Fruits fleshy drupes, ovoid or globose ; outer mesocarp thick, firm, inner mesocarp thin, fleshy; stones thick walled, ripening in autumn, persisting after leaves fall . x = 10.

Species ca. 60: tropical and temperate regions , worldwide.

The hackberries provide important wildlife habitat , forming thickets that give shelter and fleshy drupes that ripen in autumn, persist after leaves fall, and supply winter food for birds and mammals. The treatment presented here is a simplified circumscription of species with no elaboration of infraspecific variation or interspecific hybridization. The group is taxonomically complex and in need of revision .[2]

Physical Description

Species Celtis laevigata

Trees , to 30 m ; trunks to 1 m diam., crowns broad, spreading . Bark light gray, smooth or covered with corky warts . Branches without thorns , often pendulous, young branches pubescent at first, then glabrous . Leaves: petiole 6-10 mm. Leaf blade typically elliptic-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (4-) 6-8(-15) × (2-) 3-4 cm, thin and membranaceous to leathery, base broadly cuneate to rounded , margins entire or rarely with a few long teeth, apex sharply acute to acuminate; surfaces glabrous or nearly so, margins ciliate . Inflorescences: flowers solitary or few-flowered clusters at base of leaves. Drupes orange to brown or red when ripe , nearly orbicular , 5-8 mm diam., beakless; pedicel 6-15 mm. Stones 4.5-7 × 5-6 mm. 2 n = 20, 30, and 40. [source]

ID Features: Alternate leaf arrangement. Oblique leaf base. Rough leaf. Corky bark. Lateral buds is triangular and appressed. Terminal bud absent. Zigzag stem pattern. Serrated leaf tips. Small, black drupe fruit.

Habit: Deciduous tree . Columnar to irregular crown. • Growth Form: Single StemShape and Orientation: Erect

Flowers: Blooms late April to early May. Emerge with leaves. Not ornamentally important. • Bloom Period: Flowering late spring-early fall (May-Oct). • Flower Color: Green • Flower Conspicuous: No

Seeds: Seed per Pound: 6000 • Seed Spread Rate: Slow • Seedling Vigor: Medium • Fruit: Black drupe fruit. Hard seed covered by thin flesh. 0.25" in diameter. Edible, sweet. Attract birds. Mature in early fall . • Fruit/Seed Abundance: High • Fruit/Seed Color: Orange • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: No • Cold Stratification Required: Yes

Foliage: Foliage Color: Green • Summer foliage: Alternate leaf arrangement . Simple , deciduous leaves. Narrow, ovate leaf shape. Oblique leaf base. Yellowish green leaf color. 2" to 4" long. • Fall foliage: Yellow fall color. Not the best tree for fall color. • Foliage Porosity Summer: Moderate • Foliage Porosity Winter: Porous • Foliage Texture: Medium • Fall Conspicuous: Yes • Leaf Retention: No

Size/Age/Growth

Active Growth Period: Spring and Summer • Growth Rate: Moderate-rapid. • Mature Height (feet): 80.0 • Maximum Height at 20 Years (feet): 35 • Size: 40' to 60' tall. • Vegetative Spread Rate: None • Lifespan: Lifespan

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Shade tree . Street tree. Difficult sites. Park tree. To attract wildlife. For edible fruit. • Liabilities: Leaf spot, powdery mildew , hackberry nipple gall, scale, aphids. Witches' broom caused by insect. Problems don't kill tree , but make tree very unattractive.

Habitat

In rich bottomlands along streams , in flood plains , and on rocky slopes ; 0-300 m.

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,998 meters (0 to 9,836 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: PerennialCoppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: Yes • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: No • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: No • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Summer • Fruit/Seed Period End: FallFruit/Seed Persistence: Yes

Growth

Culture: Soil tolerant , but does well with fertilization and irrigation . Full sun . Pollution tolerant. Tolerant of most conditions. Wind tolerant.

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: No • Anaerobic Tolerance: None • Salinity Tolerance: None • CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium • Minimum pH: 4.8 • Maximum pH: 6.8 • Fertility Requirement: Medium

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun . • Shade Tolerance: Tolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Low • Minimum Precipitation: 20 • Maximum Precipitation: 60 • Moisture Use: High

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): -29 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 150 • Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a. (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

C. laevigata var. brachyphylla Sargent • C. laevigata var. smallii (Beadle) Sargent • C. laevigata var. texana Sargent • C. mississippiensis Bosc • C. smallii Beadle • Celtis Aculeata Laevigata • Celtis laevigata var. anomala Sargent • Mertensia laevigata Kunth • Momisia laevigata (Kunth) F. Dietr.

Notes

Publishing author : Willd. Publication : Enum. Pl. [Willdenow] 67 1814

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Celtis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 31 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. australis (European Hackberry) · C. bungeana (Hackberry) · C. ehrenbergiana (Spiny Hackberry) · C. iguanaea (Iguana Hackberry) · C. jessoensis (Japanese Hackberry) · C. julianae (Julian Hackberry) · C. laevigata (Net-Leaf Hackberry) · C. laevigata reticulata (Netleaf Hackberry) · C. laevigata var. brevipes (Sugar Hackberry) · C. laevigata var. laevigata (Sugarberry) · C. laevigata var. reticulata (Netleaf Hackberry) · C. laevigata var. texana (Texas Sugarberry) · C. laevigata 'All Seasons' (Sugar Hackberry) · C. lindheimeri (Lindheimer Hackberry) · C. occidentalis (American Hackberry) · C. occidentalis L. var. occidentalis L. (Common Hackberry) · C. occidentalis L. var. pumila (Pursh) A.Gray (Common Hackberry) · C. occidentalis var. canina (Common Hackberry) · C. occidentalis var. occidentalis (Western Hackberry) · C. occidentalis var. pumila (Dwarf Hackberry) · C. occidentalis 'Chicagoland' (American Hackberry) · C. occidentalis 'Delta' (American Hackberry) · C. occidentalis 'Prairie Pride' (American Hackberry) · C. occidentalis 'Windy City' (American Hackberry) · C. pallida (Capul) · C. reticulata var. reticulata (Netleaf Hackberry) · C. sinensis (Chinese Elm) · C. sinensis 'Green Cascade' (Chinese Elm) · C. tenuifolia (Dwarf Hackberry) · C. tournefortii (Oriental Hackberry) · C. trinervia (Almex)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Zhengyi Wu, Zhe-Kun Zhou & Bruce Bartholomew "Cannabaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 74. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Celtis". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 444.440 meters (1,458.136 feet), Standard Deviation = 559.370 based on 2,095 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012