A genus of flowering plants commonly known as hackberry trees, found in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide.
From Latin Celtis, possibly derived from an ancient place name or people (the etymology is genuinely uncertain). The genus was formalized in botanical nomenclature by Linnaeus in the 18th century.
Even Carl Linnaeus, the inventor of scientific naming, didn't know for sure why he called this plant genus 'Celtis'—and his uncertainty has haunted botanists for 250 years because now nobody really knows what he meant!
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