Celtis koraiensis Nakai

Modern name

A deciduous tree up to 40 ft high, or a bush; young shoots glabrous. Leaves usually more or less obovate, sometimes roundish or even oval, broadly tapered or rounded and oblique at the base; toothed at the sides, jaggedly and more coarsely toothed (almost lobed) at the broad apex, where the midrib often elongates into a slender, awl-shaped lobe; 2 to 5 in. long, 11⁄4 to 3 in. wide; dullish dark green and glabrous above, strongly and longitudinally veined beneath, downy on the veins; stalk 1⁄8 to 1⁄3 in. long. Fruit roundish oval, nearly 1⁄2 in. long, dull orange, borne on a stalk 5⁄8 to 3⁄4 in. long.

Native of Korea, Manchuria and N. China; introduced to Kew in 1920. In a difficult genus, this is well distinguished by the shape of the leaves and the unusually large fruit. The end of the leaf (often its widest part) has a curiously jagged, bitten-off appearance, quite distinct from the leaves, so far as I have seen, of any other cultivated nettle-tree.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

Trees of the 1920 introduction to Kew no longer exist, but there are young plants in the collection from seeds collected by Beyer, Erskine and Cowell below the Munkyung pass in Kyongsang Pukto province, South Korea (B.E. & C. 300).

Genus

Celtis

Other species in the genus

Modern name

Some names used by Bean have now been superseded and are no longer familiar. To ensure that all plants can be easily found, under any name, we have cross-referenced to The Plant List, a collaboration between RBG Kew, Missouri Botanical Gardens and other organisations, which aims to provide a currently accepted name for any plant. Not all taxonomists will agree with all Plant List nomenclature, but it provides a baseline to compare names. For each species above, clicking on the Modern Name will link to the entry for that name on The Plant List website.