3. CÉLTIS, Tourn. Nettle-tree. Hackberry.
Flowers monœciously polygamous. Calyx 5–6-parted, persistent. Stamens 5–6. Ovary 1-celled, with a single suspended ovule; stigmas 2, long and pointed, recurved. Fruit a globular drupe. Embryo curved, nearly enclosing a little gelatinous albumen; cotyledons folded and crumpled.—Leaves pointed, petioled, inequilateral. Stipules caducous. Flowers greenish, axillary, the fertile solitary or in pairs, peduncled, appearing with the leaves, the lower usually staminate only, fascicled or racemose along the base of the branches of the season. (A name of Pliny's for an African species of Lotus.)
1. C. occidentàlis, L. (Sugarberry. Hackberry.) Leaves reticulated, ovate, cordate-ovate and ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, usually conspicuously and sharply so, more or less oblique at base, sharply serrate, sometimes sparingly so or only toward the apex, scabrous but mostly glabrous above, usually soft-pubescent beneath, at least when young; fruit reddish or yellowish, turning dark purple at maturity, its peduncle once or twice the length of the petiole.—Woods and river-banks, N. Eng. to Minn., and southward. April, May.—A small or sometimes large tree, with the aspect of an Elm, bearing sweet and edible fruits as large as bird-cherries, at first obovate, ripe in autumn; the flesh thin. Very variable in the form, texture, etc., of the leaves.—Var. pùmila, Gray. Low and straggling (4–10° high); leaves thin when mature, and smooth, slightly acuminate. River-banks, on rocks, from Maryland southward.
2. C. Mississippiénsis, Bosc. Leaves entire (rarely few-toothed), very long taper-pointed, rounded at base, mostly oblique, thin, and smooth; fruit small.—Ill. to Tenn., and southward. A small tree with warty bark. (Addendum)—Celtis Mississippiensis. Common in low river-bottoms of W. Mo. (F. Bush); described as having a very smooth trunk, like a sycamore, and soft yellowish brittle wood, not coarse-grained as in C. occidentalis.
4. CÁNNABIS, Tourn. Hemp.
Flowers diœcious; the sterile in axillary compound racemes or panicles, with 5 sepals and 5 drooping stamens. Fertile flowers spiked-clustered, 1-bracted; the calyx of a single sepal enlarging at the base and folded round the ovary. Achene crustaceous. Embryo simply curved.—A tall roughish annual, with digitate leaves of 5–7 linear-lanceolate coarsely toothed leaflets, the upper alternate; the inner bark of very tough fibres. (The ancient Greek name, of obscure etymology.)
C. satìva, L. (Hemp.) Stem 4–8° high; leaves 4–8´ broad; flowers green.—Waste and cultivated ground. (Adv. from Eu.)
Flowers diœcious; the sterile in loose axillary panicles, with 5 sepals and 5 erect stamens. Fertile flowers in short axillary and solitary spikes or catkins; bracts foliaceous, imbricated, each 2-flowered, in fruit forming a sort of membranaceous strobile. Calyx of a single sepal, embracing the ovary. Achene invested with the enlarged scale-like calyx. Embryo coiled in a flat spiral.—Twining rough perennials, with stems almost prickly downward, and mostly opposite heart-shaped and palmately 3–7-lobed leaves, with persistent ovate stipules between the petioles. (A late Latin name, of Teutonic origin.)
1. H. Lùpulus, L. (Common Hop.) Leaves mostly 3–5-lobed, commonly longer than the petioles; bracts, etc., smoothish; the fruiting calyx, achene, etc., sprinkled with yellow resinous grains, which give the bitterness and aroma to the hop.—Alluvial banks, N. Eng. to western N. Y., the Great Lakes and westward, and south in the mountains to Ga. July. (Eu., Asia.)