Celtis laevigata
| Celtis laevigata | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 59' |
| Speed: | Moderate |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Celtis laevigata (common name: sugarberry)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[1]. Stored seed is best given 2 - 3 months cold stratification and then sown February/March in a greenhouse[2][1]. 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[3]. 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
Cultivation: Succeeds in any reasonably good soil, preferring a good fertile well-drained loamy soil[4][5][1]. Succeeds on dry gravels and on sandy soils[1]. Plants are usually found on clay soils in the wild[6]. Established plants are very drought resistant[1].
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[4][5][1].
A very variable species, according to some botanists these merit varietal status whilst other botanists say that the differences are too slight[7].
Trees are moderate to fast-growing, probably living no more than 125 - 150 years[6]. They can be very long-lived according to another report, perhaps surviving for 1000 years[1]. Trees fruit heavily most years[6].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[1].
Range: South-eastern N. America - Virginia to Illinois and Missouri, south to Florida and Texas.
Habitat: Low wet areas such as floodplains, bottomlands and sloughs, generally in clay soils[6].
Edibility: Fruit - raw or cooked[8][9][10]. The flesh is thin, dry and sweetish, covering a single large seed[11][12]. The fruit is up to 6mm in diameter[13].
Medicinal: A decoction of the bark has been used in the treatment of sore throats[10]. It has also been used, mixed with powdered shells, as a treatment for VD[10].
Usage: Wood - soft, not strong, close grained. It weighs 49lb per cubic foot and is used for cheap furniture, fencing, fuel[8][14][7].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: C. integrifolia. C. mississippiensis.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Sheat, Wilfrid. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. St Martin, 1948.
- ↑ Dirr, Michael and Charles Heuser. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press, 1987.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bean, William. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Murray, 1981.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Elias, Thomas. The Complete Trees of North America. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1980.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Vines, Robert. Trees of North Texas. University of Texas Press, 1982.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Vines, Robert. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press, 1987.
- ↑ Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ Sargent, Charles. Manual of the Trees of North America. Dover, 1965.