lotus tree

The Mediterranean hackberry, or European nettle tree (C. australis), is an ornamental that has lance-shaped, gray-green leaves and larger edible fruit. Some West African species produce valuable timber.

The lotus tree, known to the Romans as the Libyan lotus, was probably Celtis australis, the nettle tree of southern Europe, a member of the elm family (Cannabaceae) with fruits like small cherries, first red and then black at maturity.