About 15 species; see text Trema is a genus of evergreen trees closely related to the hackberries (Celtis), occurring in subtropical and tropical regions of southern Asia, northern Australasia, Africa, South and Central America, and parts of North America.

Trema species are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moths of the genera Aenetus, including A. splendens, which burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down, and Endoclita, including E. malabaricus.

Some Trema species unusually able to live in symbiosis with rhizobia for nitrogen fixation as a non-legume.

In this case it is customary to mention these species as a separate genus Parasponia.

[3] Trema orientale is widely planted for land reclamation in southern Asia, valued for its tolerance of poor soils due to its ability to fix nitrogen.