X. 1. THE ELM. 285 



1. THE ELM. ULMUS* Linn. 



The elms are all long-lived trees, with hard wood, consisting 

 of twisted and interlaced fibres, alternate, deciduous, harsh, 

 serrated leaves, inequilateral at base. The flowers come out, 

 early in the Spring, before the leaves, in small, dark-red, fringe- 

 like tufts, and are soon succeeded by the peculiar fruit called a 

 samara, consisting of a small, central, thin membrane, contain- 

 ing a seed, and bordered by a thin, wing-like margin. This 

 becomes mature and falls, when the leaves are expanding. The 

 buds are covered with six or seven coriaceous scales, overlying 

 each other in two rows ; those which contain flowers are large 

 and arranged on the sides of the branchlets of the preceding 

 year. The leaves have short stalks, are rough, unequally and 

 doubly serrate, acuminate, and vary much in size and shape. 

 So are the membranaceous stipules, a pair of which embrace each 

 leaf within the bud, and at the same time protect the leaves 

 which are to succeed from the same bud. The roots of most 

 of the species are strong, very tough, supple, and spreading ex- 

 tensively beneath the surface. When raised from seed, the dif- 

 ferent species have a striking tendency to vary, and in Europe, 

 where, for its uses in agriculture and the mechanic arts, and 

 for ornament and shade, it has been constantly cultivated since 

 the time of the Romans, the varieties are very numerous. The 

 same tendency may be observed, in the variation of shape and 

 habit, in the native elms of different parts of New England, and 

 even of Massachusetts. 



Their growth is rapid ; they bear transplanting and pruning 

 better than almost any other tree ; they grow on almost any soil, 

 and have a great variety of beauty, and their timber is valuable 

 for many purposes, and bears continual exposure to moisture 

 without decay. Perhaps, therefore, no trees are greater favorites, 

 or more deservedly so. On the continent of Europe, where the 

 variety of forest timber trees is much smaller than in America, the 

 elm is applied to a great number of uses, for which other trees 



* The Latin word Ulmus is supposed to be derived from the Saxon word elm 

 or ulm, which is given as the name of this tree in almost every Saxon dialect. 



