Trees or shrubs , (1-)7(-16) m; trunks rarely 6 dm diam.; crowns ± rounded. Bark gray with corky ridges. Branches without thorns, upright, villous when young. Leaves: petiole 3-8 mm. Leaf blade ovate, 2-4.5(-7) × 1.5-3.5 cm, thick, rigid, base cordate or occasionally oblique, margins entire or somewhat serrate above middle, apex obtuse to acute or somewhat acuminate; surfaces pubescent, abaxially yellow-green, adaxially gray-green, grooved, scabrous or not. Inflorescences of 1-4 flowers in axils of young leaves. Drupes reddish or reddish black when ripe, orbicular, (5-)8-10 mm diam., beaked; pedicel (4-)10-14 mm.
Flowering late winter-spring. On dry hills, often on limestone or basalt, ravine banks, rocky outcrops, and occasionally in sandy soils; 300-2300 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Kans., Nev., N.Mex., Okla., Oreg., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; n Mexico.
The Navaho-Kayenta used Celtis reticulata medicinally in the treatment of indigestion (D. E. Moerman 1986).
Common Name: netleaf hackberry
Duration: Perennial
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Tree
Wetland Status: FAC
General: Deciduous tree or large shrub, up to 8 m tall, with a rounded crown; bark is gray to whitish, with large corky warts on trunk.
Leaves: Alternate and two-ranked along the twigs, on petioles 3-8 mm long; blades ovate, 3-6 cm long, with an asymmetrical base; blade texture is thick, firm, and slightly sandpapery, with 3 primary veins and numerous reticulate cross veins.
Flowers: Inconspicuous, small, and greenish, with male and female flowers on the same tree.
Fruits: Orange-red drupe (single-seeded cherry-like fruit) 6 mm diameter, mildly sweet but dry when mature.
Ecology: Found along streams and rocky canyons, from 1,000-7,500 ft (305-2286 m); flowers March-May.
Distribution: WA, OR, and CA, east to KS, OK, and TX
Notes: A tree or large shrub distinguished by its rough-hairy, stiff leaves that feel like sandpaper when you rub towards the base, have an elongate heart-shape that is asymetrical at the base, and reticulate venation on the lower leaf surface; corky warts on the gray bark; orange berries; and is commonly infected with witches brooms and insect galls. Look for it on the high terraces associated with perennial rivers, especially at the middle elevation in the Southwest.
Ethnobotany: Fuel, posts, wildlife food; The Kayenta Navajo used medicinally to treat indigestion.
Etymology: Celtis is a Greek name for the tree; reticulata means net-veined, referrring to the leaves.
Synonyms: Celtis laevigata var. reticulata, Celtis douglasii, Celtis occidentalis var. reticulata, Celtis reticulata, Celtis reticulata var. vestita
Editor: AHazelton 2017
PLANT: Unarmed large shrubs or small trees to ca. 15 m tall in AZ; trunks to 5 dm in diameter; bark gray, smooth, but in age with corky vertical ridges and/or ring shaped bumps.
LEAVES: deciduous, highly variable; blades ovate to lanceolate, asymmetrical, (1 )2 9.5 cm long, (0.6 )2 5 cm wide, gray green above, yellow green below, often leathery, consistently bearing insect galls, the base asymmetrical and rounded to cordate, the apex usually acuminate to acute; margins entire or serrate on the distal ¾, the base nearly always entire; veins reticulate, the basal set of axils with dense tufts of hair; surfaces harshly scabrous to almost smooth, the abaxial hairs mostly on veins with those between veins very few, mostly erect, weakly pustular.
DRUPES: spherical, orange to red, 6 8 mm in diameter, on pedicels (3 )7 20 mm long.
NOTES: Usually in riparian and other wet areas: All AZ cos. except Navajo and Yuma; 600 1700( 2050) m [2000 5500( 6700) ft]; Mar Apr (fr. Aug Oct and persisting after leaves); WA and KS s to n Mex. The Navajo Kayenta used C. reticulata to treat indigestion. Vegetative specimens of Morus microphylla (Moraceae) are commonly misidentified as C. reticulata. The former can be distin¬guished by its having leaves without galls; hairs of the lower surfaces between the veins very numerous, strongly pustular, antrorse; and basal leaf margins serrate.
REFERENCES: Brasher, Jeffrey W. 2003. Ulmaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 35(2).
