NETTLE TREE is the name applied to certain trees of the genus Celtis, and belonging to the family Urticaceae. The best-known species have usually obliquely ovate, or lanceolate leaves, serrate at the edge, and marked by three prominent nerves. The flowers are inconspicuous, usually hermaphrodite, with a 4- or 5-parted perianth, as many stamens, a hairy disk, and a 1-celled ovary with a 2-parted style. The fruit is succulent like a little drupe, a character which serves to separate the genus alike from the nettles and the elms, to both of which it is closely allied. The wood of Celtis australis of southern Europe (also cultivated in England) is made use of for a variety of purposes, while the leaves serve as forage. An oil for burning is extracted from the seed of Celtis occidentalis. A North-American species is used for like purposes. Celtis australis was one of those to which the term “lotus” was applied by Dioscorides and the older authors, its berries or drupes having a sweet pleasant taste.