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Celtis
For the German Renaissance scholar, see Conrad Celtes. For the town, see Celtis, Missouri. For the tractor by CLAAS, see Claas Celtis
Hackberry (Celtis) 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, and south to central Africa. The genus is present in the fossil record at least since the Miocene of Europe.
Previously included either in the elm family (Ulmaceae) or a separate family Celtidaceae, they are placed in the hemp family (Cannabaceae) in the APG II system.
Description
They are generally medium-sized trees, reaching 10-25 m tall, rarely up to 40 m tall. The leaves are alternate, simple, 3-15 cm 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 mm diameter, edible in many species, with a dryish but sweet, sugary consistency, reminiscent of a date.
Uses and ecology
Several species are grown as ornamental trees, valued for their drought tolerance. 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 contains leaves of C. sinensis.
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
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.Hebert et al. (2004), Brower et al. (2006)
Libythea celtis (European Beak)
Libythea lepita (Common Beak)
Libythea myrrha (Club Beak) – recorded on C. tetranda
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)
The plant pathogenic basidiomycete fungus Perenniporia celtis was first described from a Celtis hostplant. Some species of Celtis are threatened by habitat destruction.
Selected species
Celtis aetnensis
Celtis africana Burm.f. – White Stinkwood
Celtis australis – European Hackberry, European Nettle Tree, Lote tree
Celtis balansae
Celtis brasiliensis Planch.
Celtis bungeana – Bunge's Hackberry
Celtis caucasica – Caucasian Hackberry
Celtis cinnamonea
Celtis durandii Engl. (= C. gomphophylla Bak.)
Celtis ehrenbergiana
Celtis glabrata
Celtis hypoleuca
Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Planch.
Celtis integrifolia – African Hackberry
Celtis japonica – Pseudo-hackberry, Nakai or Paeng-na-mu (Korea) - sometimes considered a variety of C. sinensis
Celtis jessoensis – Japanese Hackberry
Celtis koraiensis – Korean Hackberry
Celtis labilis – Hubei Hackberry
Celtis laevigata – Southern Hackberry, Sugar Hackberry, (Southern/Texas) Sugarberry
Celtis lindheimeri
Celtis luzonica
Celtis mildbraedii Engl.
Celtis occidentalis – Common Hackberry, Northern Hackberry, False Elm
Celtis pallida – Spiny Hackberry, granjeno (Spanish)
Celtis paniculata
Celtis reticulata – Net-leaved Hackberry
Celtis sinensis – Chinese Hackberry
Celtis tala – Tala
Celtis tenuifolia – Dwarf Hackberry
Celtis tetranda Roxb.
Celtis tournefortii – Oriental Hackberry
Celtis trinervia
See also
Lotophagi
William N. Barron
References
(2006): Problems with DNA barcodes for species delimitation: ten species of Astraptes fulgerator reassessed . Systematics and Biodiversity 4(2): 127132. PDF fulltext
(1900): Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. Charles Scriber's Sons, New York.
(2004): Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the semitropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. PNAS 101(41): 14812-14817. PDF fulltext Supporting Appendices
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Celtis
