ˈnettle-tree
1. A tree of the genus Celtis, belonging to the family Ulmaceæ, esp. C. australis, the European, and C. occidentalis, the N. American species.
| 1548 Turner Names Herbs (E.D.S.) 24 It hath a leafe lyke a Nettel, therfore it may be called in englishe Nettel tree or Lote tree. 1611 Cotgr., Algisié, the Lote, or Nettle tree. 1693 Phil. Trans. XVIII. 620 An elegant sort of Christophoriana,..called Nettle-Tree by those of Barbados. 1741 J. Martyn Virg. Georg. ii. 84 note, The nettle tree, the fruit of which is far from that delicacy which is ascribed to the Lotus of the ancients. 1817 Bradbury Trav. Amer. 16 The cotton wood, elm, mulberry, and nettle trees suffered the most. 1832 Planting 106 in Lib. Usef. Kn., Husb. III, The wood of the European nettle-tree is considered to be one of the hardest. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot §1022 Celtis, the Nettle-tree, or Sugar-berry, has a sweet drupaceous fruit. 1866 Treas. Bot. 245/2 The North American Nettle-tree..differs from the European species in having longer leaves. |
2. An Australian tree of the genus Laportea, esp. the Giant Nettle (L. gigas) and Small-leaved Nettle (L. photiniphylla).
| 1849 J. P. Townsend Rambles in N.S. Wales 34 In the scrubs is found a tree, commonly called ‘the nettle tree’ (Urtica gigas). 1852 Mundy Antipodes (1857) 198 The Urtica gigas or stinging nettle tree... It may be forty feet high, and the stem nine or ten feet round. |