MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 127 
AUTUMN FLOWERING ELMS 
Generally, elms are about the first trees to bloom in the 
spring. A few warm days in early March, and our local 
elms are covered with clusters of flowers speedily turning into 
fruit which ripens in early summer. The following species, 
however, put out their flowers in early autumn and their 
seeds ripen before hard winter sets in. 
Ulmus parvifolia (Chinese elm).—A small tree with spread- 
ing pubescent branches. Leaves ovate or oblong, very short- 
petioled, 34-1 inch long, glabrous and glossy above, at first 
pubescent beneath, when mature usually glabrous. Flowers 
short-petioled, blooming in September; fruit oval to elliptic 
with the seed in the center. Native habitat: North China and 
Japan. 
The tree at the Garden (plate 31) was received from the 
Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2, 1915, 
and produced its first flowers the first week in September, 
this year. It is now about 15 feet high with a spread of 
branches of about 12 feet. 
Ulmus serotina (red elm).—A tree reaching a height of 
60-90 feet, with short spreading and pendulous branches, 
often furnished with irregular corky wings. Leaves oblong to 
obovate, glabrous and shiny above, pubescent on the veins 
beneath, 2-3 inches long. Flowers in long pendulous racemes, 
blooming in September; fruit elliptic, deeply notched and 
densely ciliate. Native habitat: Georgia to Tennessee. 
Ulmus crassifolia (ccdar elm).—A tree attaining a height 
of 80 feet, with spreading limbs and slender, somewhat pendu- 
lous branches, which, when older, are often furnished with 
two opposite corky wings. Leaves short-petioled, ovate to 
ovate-oblong, 1-2 inches long, somewhat rough and _ shiny 
above, pubescent beneath. Flowers in very short racemes, 
appearing in August; fruit oval-elliptic, pubescent. Native 
habitat: Mississippi to Arkansas and Texas. 
