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Celtis pallida

Common name:	Desert Hackberry	Family:	Ulmaceae
Author:	Torr.	Botanical references:	149, 181
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America - Texas.
Habitat:	Gravelly and well-drained sandy soils in deserts and desert grasslands[181].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. spinosa var. pallida[B,P] C. tala var. pallida[B,P] Momisia pallida[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Shiny Hackberry [B], Spiny Hackberry [DEN2,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	pallida = pale
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Urticales. Elm family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 5.5m. . It is in leaf all year, in flower in April, and the seeds ripen in October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Secondary, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw. A mealy pleasant acid taste[149]. The fruit is up to 8mm in diameter[227], though most of this is the large seed[K]. The N. American Indians ground the fruit and ate it with parched corn or fat[227]. This means that they probably also ate the seed[K].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Fuel Soil stabilization Wood.

The plants have an extensive root system and are sometimes planted for erosion control[149, 227].
Wood. Of little value, though it is sometimes used for fence posts and fuel[149, 229].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any reasonably good soil, preferring a good fertile well-drained loamy soil[1, 11, 200]. Succeeds on dry gravels and on sandy soils[200]. Established plants are very drought resistant[200].
Trees prefer hotter summers and more sunlight than are normally experienced in Britain, they often do not fully ripen their wood when growing in this country and they are then very subject to die-back in winter[1, 11, 200].
Trees can be very long-lived, perhaps to 1000 years[200].
A good bee plant[149].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[200]. Stored seed is best given 2 - 3 months cold stratification and then sown February/March in a greenhouse[78, 200]. Germination rates are usually good, though the stored seed might take 12 months or more to germinate. The seed can be stored for up to 5 years[113]. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots. The leaves of seedlings often have a lot of white patches without chlorophyll, this is normal and older plants produce normal green leaves. Grow the seedlings on in a cold frame for their first winter, and plant them out in the following late spring or early summer[K]. Give them some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors.
Cuttings

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Ulmaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[149] Vines. R. A. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press 1987 ISBN 0-292-78958-3
Fairly readable, it gives details of habitats and some of the uses of trees growing in Texas.

[181] Pesman. M. W. Meet Flora Mexicana. Dale S. King. Arizona. 1962
Very readable flora but rather lacking botanically. A few notes on useful plants.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Celtis+pallida
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