Netleaf hackberry, palo blanco

Celtis brevipes S. Watson; C. douglasii Planchon; C. laevigata Willdenow var. reticulata L. D. Benson; C. occidentalis Linnaeus var. reticulata (Torrey) Sargent; C. reticulata var. vestita Sargent

Trees or shrubs , (1-)7(-16) m; trunks rarely 6 dm diam.; crowns ± rounded. Bark gray with corky ridges. Branches without thorns, upright, villous when young. Leaves: petiole 3-8 mm. Leaf blade ovate, 2-4.5(-7) × 1.5-3.5 cm, thick, rigid, base cordate or occasionally oblique, margins entire or somewhat serrate above middle, apex obtuse to acute or somewhat acuminate; surfaces pubescent, abaxially yellow-green, adaxially gray-green, grooved, scabrous or not. Inflorescences of 1-4 flowers in axils of young leaves. Drupes reddish or reddish black when ripe, orbicular, (5-)8-10 mm diam., beaked; pedicel (4-)10-14 mm.

Flowering late winter-spring. On dry hills, often on limestone or basalt, ravine banks, rocky outcrops, and occasionally in sandy soils; 300-2300 m; Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Kans., Nev., N.Mex., Okla., Oreg., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; n Mexico.

The Navaho-Kayenta used Celtis reticulata medicinally in the treatment of indigestion (D. E. Moerman 1986).