Gen info
- Celtis philippensis is an Asian species of flowering plant in the family Cannabaceae.
- Celtis is a genus of about 60-70 species of deciduous trees, known as hackberries. or nettle trees. The genus is part of the extended Cannabis family (Cannabaceae).

Botany
• Trees to 30 m tall, evergreen. Bark grayish white to grayish brown or gray. Branchlets brown or tan, glabrous or pubescent. Winter buds naked, without differentiated scales. Stipules ovate-lanceolate to ovate, 2-8 mm, glabrous or pubescent, enfolding naked terminal bud, apex attenuate. Petiole glabrous, 0.5-1.5
(-2) cm, adaxial furrow deep and narrow or broad and shallow; leaf blade lanceolate-elliptical, ovate-elliptical, or oblong, 4.5-18 × 2.5-11.5 cm, papery to leathery, glabrous or with a scattering of inconspicuous appressed hairs, base acute, obtuse, or rounded, symmetric or weakly asymmetric, margin entire, apex rounded-obtuse to gradually or abruptly acuminate; secondary veins 1 or 2 on each side of midvein. Cymes 1 or 2 per leaf axil, densely flowered, much branched, each with ca. 5 bisexual flowers and 5 or more male flowers. Styles 2, apically broadened and 2-cleft or emarginate. Infructescences 1-3 per leaf axil, stout, branched or unbranched, with 1-3 drupes and prominent scars from fallen flowers, glabrous, 2.5-5 cm, 3-6 × as long as subtending petiole. Drupe orange to red, 0.8-1.4 cm, globose to ellipsoid, base rounded to obtuse, apex rounded to obtuse. Stone ovoid to ± globose, 6-13 mm, conspicuously to inconspicuously ribbed. (Flora of China)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- Also native to Andaman Is., Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, China, Hainan, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, New Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Western Australia. (1)
- In tropical and subtropical forests, moist evergreen forests, monsoon forests, and littoral forests, from sea level to elevation of 1,400m. (2)
- Common in coastal vegetation, fruit dispersal may be facilitated by water currents.

Constituents
- Phytochemical study of methanol extract of leaves (L), stems (S) and roots (R) revealed terpenoids (L), sugars (L,S,R), alkaloids (L,S), phenolic compounds (L,R), saponins (L,S,R) tannins (L,S,R), amino acids (L,S), with absence of reducing sugars, catechins, anthroquinones. (5)
- Phytochemical screening of various extracts of leaves yielded alkaloids, sterols, carbohydrates, glucosides, terpenoids and saponins, tannins, gum and mucilage, and flavonoids. (3)
- Study of chloroform extract of twigs isolated two triterpene esters, 3beta-trans-sinapoyloxylup-20(29)-en-28-ol (1) and 3beta-trans-feruloyloxy-16 beta-hydroxylup-20(29)-ene (2), along with five known triterpenes, 3beta-O-(E)-feruloylbetulin (3), 3beta-O-(E)-coumaroylbetulin (4), betulin (5), 20-epibryonolic acid (6), and ursolic acid (7).  (see study below) (7)

Properties
- Studies have suggested cytotoxic, anticancer, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic properties.

Parts used
Bark, roots, leaves, twigs.

Uses
Edibility
- Seed yields an edible oil.
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
- In India, bark used for treatment of cuts and wound healing; also used for digestion problems. (4)
- Roots used for treatment of diarrhea. Leaf sap used for parasitic infections.
- Roots used for ulcers.
Others
- Wood: Wood is moderately hard to hard, heavy, durable. Used for construction, making furniture, poles, tool handles, beams, joists, rafters, etc.
- Oil: Seed oil used for making soap and lubricants.
- Fiber: Bark yields a fiber for making paper and rope.
- Fuel: Wood used for fuel.
- Dye: Bark yields a yellow dye.

Studies
• Hypoglycemic / Hypolipidemic / Toxicity Study / Leaves: Study evaluated the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects of various extracts of on mice. Extract at dose of 200 mg/kg on glucose tolerance test improved glucose tolerance in fasted normal rats. Extract showed significant hypoglycemic effect (p<09.01 after 90 minutes of treatment. In dexamethasone-induced hyperglycemic rats, the extracts showed more significant (p<0.01) decrease in blood glucose compared to control. The HDL cholesterol level increased with extract and GLB group when compared to diabetic control. On acute toxicity study, administration of 2000 mg/kg dose of Celtis philippensis leaf extract to albino mice did not show signs of toxicity or mortality during a 14-day observation period. (Note: Abstract(3)
• Betulin / Anticancer: Betulin is a lipophilic compound with a broad spectrum of biological activity including antitumor, antiviral, and antibacterial action. Betulin isolated from Celtis philippensis was tested on human colon cancer cells Col2. It was found to be less cytotoxic (ED50>45µM) against Col2 compared to reference taxol and camptothecin. (6)
• Cytotoxic Triterpenes / Twigs: Study of chloroform extract of twigs isolated two cytotoxic triterpene esters, 3beta-trans-sinapoyloxylup-20(29)-en-28-ol (1) and 3beta-trans-feruloyloxy-16 beta-hydroxylup-20(29)-ene (2), along with five known triterpenes (3-7). All isolated were evaluated for cytotoxicity against several human cancer cell lines. (see constituents above) (7)

Availability
- Wild-crafted.
- Pot plants in the cybermarket.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Celtis philippensis Blanco / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(2)
Celtis philippensis / Wikipedia
(3)
Anti-Diabetic and Anti-Hyperlipidemic Evaluation of Celtis philippensis Blanco on Albino Wistar Rats. / Sujith Thomas, Rohit Saraswat, B Arul / International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2020; 12(4): pp 2951-2955 / ISSN: 0975-2366
(4)
Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used by ethnic communities of South India / Santhosh Kumar JU, MJ Krishna Chaitanya, Andrew J Semotiuk, V Krishna / Ethnobotany Research & Applications, 2019; 18(4) / DOI: 10.32859/era.18.4.1-112
(5)
Preliminary phytochemical and pharmacognostic studies of Celtis philippensis Blanco / D Ahino Mary, A Saravana Ganthi / International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Chemistry, 2018; 8(1): pp 84-87 / ISSN: 2231-2781
(6)
Review paper: Betulin: a natural product with promising anticancer activity against colorectal cancer cells / Ewa Bebenek, Elwira Chrobak, Stanislaw Boryczka et al /  Medical Studies, 2020; Vol 36 / eISSN: 2300-6722 / pISSN: 1899-1874
(7)
Cytotoxic triterpenes from the twigs of Celtis philippinensis / Bang Yeon Hwang, Hee-Byung Chao, Leonardo B S Kardono, Soedarsono Riswan, Norman R Farnsworth et al / Phytochemistry, 2003; 62(2): pp 197-201 / DOI: 10.1016/s0031-9422(02)00520-4
(8)
Celtis philippensis / Ken Fern: Tropical Plants Database / Useful Tropical Plants

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)