Celtis australis

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European nettle tree
Illustration Celtis australis0.jpg
Celtis australis [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: Celtis
Species:
C. australis
Binomial name
Celtis australis
L.
Celtis australis range.svg
Distribution map

Celtis australis, the European nettle tree, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, or honeyberry, [3] is a deciduous tree native to Southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. The tree was introduced to England in 1796. [4]

Contents

Description

The tree can grow to 25 m in height, though 10 m is more common in cooler climates. The bark is smooth and grey, almost elephantine. [5]

The alternate leaves are narrow and sharp-toothed, rugose above and tomentose below, 5–15 cm long and dark grey/green throughout the year, fading to a pale yellow before falling in autumn.

The apetalous wind-pollinated flowers are perfect (hermaphrodite, having both male and female organs), small and green, either singly or in small clusters.

The fruit is a small, dark-purple berry-like drupe, 1 cm wide, hanging in short clusters. They are edible and are extremely popular with birds and other wildlife.

History

Celtis australis is supposed to have been the Lotus of the ancients, whose fruit Herodotus, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus describe as sweet, pleasant, and wholesome. Homer has Ulysses refer to the "Lotus-eaters" and the "lotus" in Odyssey, Book IX. [6]

It is often planted as an ornamental as it is long-living and resistant to air pollution. The fruit of this tree is sweet and edible, and can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves and fruit are astringent, lenitive, and stomachic. Decoction of both leaves and fruit is used in the treatment of amenorrhoea, heavy menstrual and inter-menstrual bleeding, and colic. The decoction can also be used to astringe the mucous membranes in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, and peptic ulcers. A yellow dye is obtained from the bark. The wood is very tough, pliable, durable, and widely used by turners; the flexible, thin shoots are used as walking sticks.

Cultivation

The plant prefers light well-drained (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, including those nutritionally poor; it can tolerate drought but not shade. The Mediterranean climate is especially suitable for the plant but it can tolerate colder climate (USDA Zone 7B). An article on Nettle tree cultivation is brought down in Ibn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work, Book on Agriculture. [7]

Common names

In different countries, Celtis australis is known under the following common names:

Trade names are: nettle wood, brimji. [8]

Notable trees

A large specimen planted in 1550 stands before the church in the village perché of Fox-Amphoux in the Provence region of southern France. The tree was 18 m in height with a circumference at breast height of 5 m in 2013. [9] In Islamic tradition, hackberry trees are considered holy and amulets made from their wood are employed to exorcise demons. The hackberry trees on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are said to be the oldest in the world. [10]

The fruit and its effects are described in Tennyson's poem The Lotos-Eaters.

Secondary metabolites

The leaves of Celtis australis are a rich source of flavonoid C-glycosides. [11] [12] Young leaves of Celtis australis from Northern Italy were found to contain the highest amounts of phenolics per gram dry weight. Amounts rapidly decreased until mid-May and after this date the level of phenolics fluctuated but showed no discernible trend. This general trend of high amounts of phenolics in the early growing season and a fast decline affected both caffeic acid derivatives and flavonoids. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulmaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Ulmaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms, and the zelkovas. Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution elsewhere except for Australasia.

<i>Celtis</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the hop and hemp family

Celtis is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, widespread in warm temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus is part of the extended Cannabis family (Cannabaceae).

<i>Trema</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants belonging to the hop and hemp family

Trema is a genus of about 15 species of evergreen trees closely related to the hackberries (Celtis), occurring in subtropical and tropical regions of southern Asia, northern Australasia, Africa, South and Central America, and parts of North America. They are generally small trees, reaching 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall.

Honeyberry or honey berry is a common name for the edible fruits of several plants and may refer to:

<i>Leontodon</i> Genus of flowering plants

Leontodon is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, commonly known as hawkbits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Date-plum</span> Species of tree

Diospyros lotus, with common names date-plum,Caucasian persimmon, or lilac persimmon, is a widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros, native to temperate Asia and southeast Europe. Its English name derives from the small fruit, which have a taste reminiscent of both plums and dates. It is among the oldest plants in cultivation.

<i>Celtis occidentalis</i> Species of tree

Celtis occidentalis, commonly known as the common hackberry, is a large deciduous tree native to North America. It is also known as the nettletree, sugarberry, beaverwood, northern hackberry, and American hackberry. It is a moderately long-lived hardwood with a light-colored wood, yellowish gray to light brown with yellow streaks.

<i>Celtis laevigata</i> Species of tree

Celtis laevigata is a medium-sized tree native to North America. Common names include sugarberry, southern hackberry, or in the southern U.S. sugar hackberry or just hackberry.

Lote tree may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox-Amphoux</span> Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Fox-Amphoux is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in south-eastern France.

<i>Polygonia comma</i> Species of butterfly

Polygonia comma, the eastern comma, is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Nymphalinae.

<i>Celtis paniculata</i> Species of tree in the family Cannabaceae

Celtis paniculata, commonly known as tripewood, silky keltis, silky celtis, native hackberry, native celtis, Investigator tree or whitewood, is a rainforest tree native to parts of Malesia, Melanesia and Australia.

<i>Celtis sinensis</i> Species of tree

Celtis sinensis is a species of flowering plant in the hemp family, Cannabaceae, that is native to slopes in East Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabaceae</span> Family of flowering plants comprising hops, hemps, and hackberries

Cannabaceae is a small family of flowering plants, known as the hemp family. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including Cannabis (hemp), Humulus (hops) and Celtis (hackberries). Celtis is by far the largest genus, containing about 100 species.

<i>Celtis reticulata</i> Species of tree

Celtis reticulata, with common names including netleaf hackberry, western hackberry, Douglas hackberry, netleaf sugar hackberry, palo blanco, and acibuche, is a small- to medium-sized deciduous tree native to western North America.

<i>Celtis africana</i> Species of tree

Celtis africana, the white stinkwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Cannabaceae. Its habit ranges from a tall tree in forest to a medium-sized tree in bushveld and open country, and a shrub on rocky soil. It occurs in Yemen and over large parts of Africa south of the Sahara. It is a common tree in the south and east of southern Africa, where the odour given off by freshly-cut green timber is similar to that of Ocotea bullata or black stinkwood.

<i>Trema orientale</i> Species of tree

Trema orientale is a species of flowering tree in the hemp family, Cannabaceae. It is known by many common names, including charcoal-tree, Indian charcoal-tree, pigeon wood, Oriental trema, and in Hawaii, where it has become naturalized, gunpowder tree, or nalita. It has a near universal distribution in tropical and warm temperate parts of the Old World, with a range extending from South Africa, through the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and southern China to Southeast Asia and Australia.

<i>Celtis timorensis</i> Species of tree

Celtis timorensis, commonly known as stinkwood or stinking wood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cannabaceae that grows in tropical Asia. The specific epithet comes from the name of the island of Timor, the locality of the type collection. The most notable characteristic of the tree is the strong excrement odour that it emits from the bark and sap, which pervades the surrounding forest. This is due to the presence of the malodorous organic compound skatole. In Thailand, it therefore known as kæ̂ng k̄hī̂ phrar̀wng or mị̂ chĕd tūd phrar̀wng which means 'wipe the bottom timber'. Thai legend has it that Phra Ruang wiped his buttocks with it. In Sri Lanka the heartwood of the tree is used as a traditional ayurvedic medicine against syphilis, chickenpox, and measles.

<i>Trema lamarckianum</i> Species of tree

Trema lamarckianum, Lamarck's trema, West Indian nettle tree, or pain-in-the-back is a plant species in the genus Trema of the family Cannabaceae. It is a small evergreen shrub that is native of Florida and the West Indies. It has several common names such as pain-in-back, cabrilla and Lamarck trema. It is 6 m tall growing all year.

<i>Ximenia caffra</i> Species of shrub

Ximenia caffra, the sourplum, is a small tree or small shrub that is thinly branched. It is part of the Olacaceae family which is native throughout tropical regions. In particular, the sourplum is native to regions in South East Africa, mainly Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The sourplum tree produces several fruits on an annual basis. These are generally sour with a dry aftertaste, and they contain significant amounts of potassium. The tree itself is fairly hardy, with frost resistance and drought tolerance. The tree, fruit, seed, leaves, and roots are all used for human consumption, medicinally, or for fuel. The trees themselves can also be used as natural land division barriers.

References

  1. 1885 illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
  2. Harvey-Brown, Y.; Rivers, M.C. & Barstow, M. (2017). "Celtis australis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T19218728A109615529. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T19218728A109615529.en . Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. Bailey, L.H.; Bailey, E.Z.; the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada. Macmillan, New York.
  4. Hillier Nurseries Ltd. (1977). Hilliers' Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 4th edition, p.70. David & Charles, Newton Abbott, UK. ISBN   0-7153-7460-5
  5. More, D. & White, J. (2003).Trees of Britain & Northern Europe, p. 417. Cassells, London. ISBN   0-304-36192-5.
  6. Keeler, Harriet L. (1900). Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp.  249–252.
  7. Ibn al-'Awwam, Yahya (1864). Le livre de l'agriculture d'Ibn-al-Awam (kitab-al-felahah) (in French). Translated by J.-J. Clement-Mullet. Paris: Paris, A. Franck. pp. 311–312 (ch. 7 - Article 38). OCLC   780050566. (pp. 311-312 (Article XXXVIII)
  8. "Celtis australis (Ulmaceae): Nettle Wood, Brimji" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  9. "Micocoulier, Fox-Amphoux (Var)". 24 April 2009.
  10. Jerusalem's Oldest Guardians: Hackberry Trees on the Temple Mount Archived 2022-02-03 at the Wayback Machine , Haaretz
  11. Spitaler, R; Gurschler, S; Ellmerer, E; Schubert, B; Sgarbossa, M; Zidorn, C (2009). "Flavonoids from Celtis australis (Cannabaceae)". Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 37 (2): 120–121. doi:10.1016/j.bse.2008.11.020. ISSN   0305-1978.
  12. Kaltenhauser, M; Ellmerer, EP; Zidorn, C (2010). "Rhamnopyranosylvitexin derivatives from Celtis australis". Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society. 75 (6): 733–738. doi: 10.2298/JSC090817049K . ISSN   1820-7421.
  13. Sommavilla, V; Haidacher-Gasser, D; Sgarbossa, M; Zidorn, C (2012). "Seasonal variation in phenolics in leaves of Celtis australis (Cannabaceae)". Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 41: 110–114. doi:10.1016/j.bse.2011.12.028. ISSN   0305-1978.