Nettle Tree

Nettle-Tree (Celtis australis), a handsome tree, thirty to forty feet high, with smooth bark. brown on the trunk and grey on the branches, and deciduous leaves resembling those of the nettle, wdience its name. It occurs chiefly in the Mediterranean region; but, though its wood is very hard, takes a high polish, and is ornamental, it is but little cultivated. It is one of some seventy species of the genus Celtis, a member of the elm family, distinguished chiefly by its small fleshy fruit or "drupe." This is eaten in Spain and Greece, and may perhaps be the lotus (q.v.) of the ancients. C. occidentalis and other American species are generally known as Hackberries.