A modern reference to temperate woody plants, including updated content from this site and much new material, can be found at Trees and Shrubs Online.

Hemiptelea davidii (Hance) Planch.

Modern name

Hemiptelea davidii (Hance) Planch.

Synonyms

Planera davidii Hance; Zelkova davidii (Hance) Hemsl.

A small deciduous tree, armed with stout thorns; young shoots hairy. Leaves oval, 34 to 214 in. long, 12 to 1 in. wide, pointed, slightly heart-shaped at the base, with seven to fifteen teeth along each side; upper surface dark green and at first beset with pale, scattered hairs, each springing from a curious circular depression which, after the hair falls away, turns dark; lower surface glabrous except for a few scattered hairs on the midrib and chief veins at first. Fruits conical, 14 in. long, scarcely so wide, two-edged, slightly winged, shortly but distinctly stalked; stalk 112 in. long.

Native of N.E. and Central China, Manchuria, E. Mongolia, and Korea; introduced to France by Maurice de Vilmorin, and from his garden at Les Barres to Kew in 1908. The thorns in wild trees are very formidable, sometimes 4 or 5 in. long, but they become much less so on our cultivated trees.


Genus

Hemiptelea

Other species in the genus

[No species article available]