ULMACEAE

ELM FAMILY

Dieter H. Wilken

Shrub or tree, often monoecious
Leaves simple, generally alternate, generally 2-ranked, short-petioled; stipules deciduous; blade base often oblique, veins pinnate
Inflorescence: cyme, clustered, axillary; flowers 1–few; bracts 0
Flower radial; sepals 4–6, free to fused; corolla 0; stamens 4–6, opposite sepals; ovary superior, chamber 1, ovule 1, style branches generally 2
Fruit: drupe or winged nutlet
Genera in family: ± 15 genera, ± 150 species: temp to tropical; some cultivated for ornamental (Celtis , Ulmus , Zelkova ), some used for wood, fibers (especially Ulmus )
Reference: [Elias 1970 J Arnold Arbor 51:18–40]
Recent taxonomic note: Celtis recently treated in Celtidaceae [Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 1998 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 85:531–553; Wiegrefe & Sytsma 1998 Plant Syst Evol 210:249–270]

CELTIS

HACKBERRY

Shrub or tree; flowers often bisexual and unisexual on same plant
Stem: trunk bark deeply furrowed
Leaf: blade entire to serrate, base oblique
Inflorescence generally stalked
Flower: sepals generally 5–6, generally free to near base; stamens 4–6, exserted; style branches elongate, spreading to reflexed
Fruit: drupe, ± spheric, persistent
Seed 1, spheric
Species in genus: ± 60 species: especially tropical and dry temp.

Native

C. reticulata Torr.

NET-LEAF HACKBERRY

Plant 1–8 m
Stem: trunk bark corky, checkered between furrows; twigs puberulent
Leaf: blade 2–8 cm, lanceolate to ovate, leathery, entire to serrate, lower surface yellowish green, clearly net-veined, base obtuse to ± cordate, tip obtuse to acuminate, scabrous
Flower: pedicel in fruit 4–15 mm
Fruit 5–12 mm diam, brownish to purple; pulp thin
Ecology: Uncommon. Canyons, seeps, washes
Elevation: 500–1700 m.
Bioregional distribution: s Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi Mountain Area, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, s East of Sierra Nevada, e Desert Mountains
Distribution outside California: to Washington, Kansas, Texas, n Mexico
Sometimes also cultivated, persisting (ScV, SNE, D)
Horticultural information: SUN, DRN: 4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 &IRR: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21.