Celtis
- For the German Renaissance scholar, see Conrad Celtes. For the town, see Celtis, Missouri. For the tractor by CLAAS, see Claas Celtis. For the board game by Reiner Knizia, see Keltis.
| Hackberry | |
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| Chinese Hackberry (Celtis sinensis) leaves and fruit | |
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| Genus: | Celtis |
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Some 60-70 (see about 35 below) | |
Celtis (Hackberry) is a genus of about 60-70 species of deciduous trees widespread in warm temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, in southern Europe, southern and eastern Asia, and southern and central North America, south to central Africa, and South America. The genus is present in the fossil record at least since the Miocene of Europe.[1]
Previously included either in the elm family (Ulmaceae) or a separate family, Celtidaceae, the APG II system places Celtis in the hemp family (Cannabaceae).
Description
Celtis species are generally medium-sized trees, reaching 10–25 metres (33–82 ft) tall, rarely up to 40 metres (130 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, 3–15 centimetres (1.2–5.9 in) long, ovate-acuminate, and evenly serrated margins.
Small monoecious flowers appear in early spring while the leaves are still developing. Male flowers are longer and fuzzy. Female flowers are greenish and more rounded.
The fruit is a small drupe 6–10 millimetres (0.24–0.39 in) mm diameter, edible in many species, with a dryish but sweet, sugary consistency, reminiscent of a date.
Selected species
- Celtis aetnensis - .
- Celtis africana Burm.f. - White Stinkwood
- Celtis australis L. - European Hackberry, European Nettle Tree or Lote tree
- Celtis balansae Planch. - . (NEW CALEDONIA (AUSTRALIA))
- Celtis biondii - .
- Celtis brasiliensis Planch. - .
- Celtis bungeana L. - Bunge's Hackberry
- Celtis caucasica L. - Caucasian Hackberry
- Celtis cinnamonea - .
- Celtis durandii Engl.
[ syn. C. gomphophylla Bak. ] - . - Celtis ehrenbergiana (Klotzsch) Liebm. - Spiny Hackberry, granjeno (Spanish) (SOUTHERN US, MEXICO, GREATER ANTILLES, NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA)
- Celtis glabrata - .
- Celtis hypoleuca Planch. (NEW CALEDONIA (AUSTRALIA))
- Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg. - Iguana Hackberry (FLORIDA (USA), MEXICO, CARIBBEAN, C and SOUTH AMERICA)
- Celtis integrifolia L. - African Hackberry
- Celtis jessoensis Koidz. - Japanese Hackberry (JAPAN, KOREA)
- Celtis koraiensis L. - Korean Hackberry
- Celtis labilis L. - Hubei Hackberry
- Celtis laevigata Willd. - Southern Hackberry or Sugar Hackberry, (SOUTHERN US / TEXAS) Sugarberry (E USA, NE MEXICO)
- Celtis lindheimeri Engelm. ex K.Koch - Lindheimer's Hackberry (TEXAS (USA), COAHUILA (MEXICO))
- Celtis loxensis - .
- Celtis luzonica Warb. - . (PHILIPPINES)
- Celtis mildbraedii Engl. - .
- Celtis occidentalis L. - Common Hackberry, Northern Hackberry, False Elm (E NORTH AMERICA)
- Celtis paniculata (Endl.) Planch. - . (E MALESIA, E AUSTRALIA, MICRONESIA, W POLYNESIA)
- Celtis reticulata Torr. - Netleaf Hackberry (W North America)
- Celtis schippii - .
- Celtis sinensis Planch.
[ syn. C. japonica Planch.; C. sinensis var. japonica (Planch.) Nakai; C. tetrandra ssp. sinensis (Roxb.) Y. C. Tang ] - Chinese hackberry, Chinese nettle-tree or Japanese hackberry (CHINA, JAPAN) - Celtis tala Gillet ex Planch. - Tala (SOUTH AMERICA)
- Celtis tenuifolia Nutt. - Dwarf Hackberry (E NORTH AMERICA)
- Celtis tetranda Roxb. - .
- Celtis tournefortii L. - Oriental Hackberry
- Celtis triflora - .
- Celtis trinervia - .
- additional list source
Uses and ecology
Several species are grown as ornamental trees, valued for their drought tolerance. They possess the most bending tolerance of all species of wood[citation needed]. They are a regular feature of arboretums and botanical gardens, particularly in North America. Especially Chinese Hackberry (C. sinensis) is suited for bonsai culture, while a magnificent Pseudo-hackberry (C. japonica) in Daegu-myeon is one of the natural monuments of South Korea. Some, including Common Hackberry (C. occidentalis) and C. brasiliensis, are honey plants and pollen source for honeybees of lesser importance.
The berries, as mentioned above, are often eaten locally. The Korean tea gamro cha (감로차, 甘露茶) contains leaves of C. sinensis.
Lepidopterae
Celtis species are used as foodplants by the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera. These include mainly brush-footed butterflies, most importantly the distinct genus Libythea (beak butterflies) and some Apaturinae (emperor butterflies):
- Acytolepis puspa (Common Hedge Blue) – recorded on Chinese Hackberry (C. sinensis)
- Automeris io (Io Moth) – recorded on Southern Hackberry (C. laevigata)
- Asterocampa celtis (Hackberry Butterfly, Hackberry Emperor)
- A putative new taxon of the Two-barred Flasher (Astraptes fulgerator) cryptic species complex, provisionally called "CELT", has hitherto only been found on Celtis iguanaea.[4]
- Libythea celtis (European Beak)
- Libythea labdaca (African Beak)
- Libythea lepita (Common Beak)
- Libythea myrrha (Club Beak) – recorded on C. tetranda[verification needed]
- Nymphalis xanthomelas (Scarce Tortoiseshell) – recorded on European Hackberry (C. australis)
- Sasakia charonda (Great Purple Emperor) – recorded on Japanese Hackberry (C. jessoensis) and Pseudo-hackberry (C. japonica)
Pathogens
The plant pathogenic basidiomycete fungus Perenniporia celtis was first described from a Celtis hostplant. Some species of Celtis are threatened by habitat destruction.
Gallery
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See also
Footnotes
- ^ Keeler (1900): pp.249-252[verification needed]
- ^ "Celtis ehrenbergiana (Klotzsch) Liebm". GRIN. USDA. 2002-01-10. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
- ^ "Celtis sinensis Pers". GRIN. USDA. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
- ^ Hébert et al. (2004), Brower et al. (2006)
References
- Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2006): Problems with DNA barcodes for species delimitation: ‘ten species’ of Astraptes fulgerator reassessed (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Systematics and Biodiversity 4(2): 127–132. doi:10.1017/S147720000500191X PDF fulltext
- Keeler, Harriet L. (1900): Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. Charles Scriber's Sons, New York.
- Hébert, Paul D.N.; Penton, Erin H.; Burns, John M.; Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie (2004): Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the semitropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. PNAS 101(41): 14812-14817. doi:10.1073/pnas.0406166101 PDF fulltext Supporting Appendices