Celtis iguanaea (Jacq.) Sarg.

Iguana hackberry (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Cannabaceae > Celtis

Characteristics

Andromonoecious shrubs or small trees to 12 m. tall, the branches flexuose, armed with short recurved spines. Leaves ovate to broadly elliptic, 3-11 cm. long 1.5-4.5 cm. broad, acute or attenuate at the apex, obtuse to subcordate at the base, slightly inequilateral, 3-nerved at the base, sparsely pubescent to glabrous above and below, serrate at least toward the apex; petiole 0.5-1.0 cm. long. Inflorescence cymose, fasciculate. Bisexual flowers: sepals 5, about 1.5 mm. long, 0.75 mm. broad, connate at the base, margin ciliate, greenish-yellow; stamens 5, exserted, the filaments 1.5 mm. long, glabrous, the anthers 1 mm. long, 0.75 mm. broad, the torus hairy; ovary more or less cylindrical, shortly hairy, the styles 2, fused at the base. Staminate flowers with rudimentary pistil. Flowers described from Mexican specimens. Fruit ovoid, 8-12 mm. long, 6-8 mm. in diameter, yellow, orange or red.
More
Climber, shrub or treelet, up to ca. 6 m tall, with solitary or paired, up to 1.5 cm long, curved spines. Branchlets 1-4 mm thick, puberulous to pubescent or subglabrous. Stipules 0.2-0.5 cm long, puberulous to subglabrous, caducous; petiole 0.5-1.5 cm long; blade chartaceous, narrowly ovate to ovate to narrowly elliptic to elliptic, 3-14 x 2-6.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate, base obtuse to subcordate, margin serrate to crenate-dentate, both surfaces smooth to scabridulous, puberulous to hispidulous to pubescent or subglabrous; secondary veins 2-4 pairs. Inflorescences in the leaf axils or just below the leaves. Staminate flowers sessile; tepals 5, 1-1.5 mm long. Pistillate flowers short-pedicellate; tepals 5, ca. 1.5 mm long; stigmas 5-8 mm long. Fruit ellipsoid to ovoid, (when dry) ca. 10-15 mm long, at maturity orange to red.
A small tree. It grows to 4 m high. The trunk is 12-15 cm across. The branches are horizontal. They are flexible and have spines. It can form thickets. The leaves are alternate and have teeth along the edge. They are 5-7 cm long by 2.5-4 cm wide. They are oval and taper to the tip. The flowers contain both sexes. The fruit is fleshy and with a hard stone inside. The fruit are green when immature and yellow when ripe.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support climber free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.81 - 0.83
Mature height (meter) 5.5 - 8.25
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 6.0
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Dry or wet thickets of plains and hillsides, usually below elevations of 1,000 metres. Gallery forests, often in areas subject to periodic inundation.
More
A tropical plant. In Bolivia it grows between 300 and 2000 m above sea level.
Light 5-8
Soil humidity 2-7
Soil texture 3-5
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-10

Usage

The fruit are eaten raw.
Uses charcoal dye eating food material medicinal wood
Edible fruits seeds
Therapeutic use Eye (unspecified), Fever (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. The ripe fruit are harvested and put into a plastic bag to allow them to soften making it easier to remove the seeds. The seeds are washed under running water. Fresh seeds are planted and they germinate in 4-6 weeks.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Celtis iguanaea leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Celtis iguanaea leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Celtis iguanaea leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Fruit

Celtis iguanaea fruit picture by JP Corrêa Carvalho (cc-by-sa)
Celtis iguanaea fruit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Celtis iguanaea world distribution map, present in Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, El Salvador, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, United States of America, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Conservation status

Celtis iguanaea threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:51171-2
WFO ID wfo-0000593565
COL ID 5XGJM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 629293
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Mertensia citrifolia Celtidopsis citrifolia Celtis aculeata Celtis asperula Celtis biflora Celtis brevifolia Celtis ehrenbergiana Celtis gardneri Celtis glabrata Celtis hilariana Celtis morifolia Celtis pavonii Celtis platycaulis Celtis pubescens Celtis velutina Celtis williamsii Celtis zizyphoides Ziziphus commutata Ziziphus iguanea Momisia triflora Momisia pubescens Rhamnus iguanaea Celtis alnifolia Celtis glycycarpa Celtis goudotii Celtis dichotoma Celtis diffusa Celtis epiphylladena Celtis membranacea Celtis rhamnoides Celtis spinosa Celtis spinosissima Celtis triflora Momisia tarijensis Mertensia rhamnoides Mertensia zizyphoides Momisia dichotoma Momisia brevifolia Plagioceltis dichotoma Momisia aculeata Momisia anfractuosa Momisia laevigata Momisia zizyphoides Momisia pallida Mertensia aculeata Momisia alnifolia Momisia membranacea Momisia spinosissima Momisia platycaulis Momisia spinifera Mertensia iguanea Rhamnus grangenos Saurobroma iguanense Celtis anfractuosa Celtis aculeata var. laevigata Celtis aculeata var. pubescens Celtis aculeata var. serrata Celtis tournefortii var. glabrata Celtis laevigata Celtis pubescens var. pubescens Momisia iguanaea Momisia ehrenbergiana Celtis iguanaea