62 



Bulletin 73 



strict and upright ; others whicli are straggUng and strongly weeping. The 

 bark characters also vary much in different trees. Numerous clusters of 

 slender, drooping flowers open before the leaves in early May, giving the 

 tree a delicate feathery appearance. The seeds mature and fall before the 

 leaves are fully grown. 



The wood is very tough and fibrous, making it useful for ox yokes, 

 wagon bolsters, hubs of wheels and similai- purposes where there is special 

 cross-strain. 



SLIPPERY ELM (red elm). Ulmus jmbescens Wa\t., U. /«Zra Michx. 



The slippery elm is not uncommon in Vermont. The scattering trees of 



this species are, however, usually passed un- 

 noticed because it so closely resembles the 

 American elm that it is not easy to distinguish 

 the two by general appearance. The stringy 

 mucilaginous bark of the slippery elm is 

 always a sure means of recognition. 



Other means of distinguishing it are found 

 in its circular fruits, which appear in May ; 

 these^ have smooth margins, whereas those 

 of both the other species are fringed with deli- 

 cate hairs. The leaves are larger, rougher above 

 and soft-downy beneath. But the surest and 

 simplest test is the "slippery" bark. This 

 has well known medicinal properties which 



give it a recognized value in the drug trade. The slippery elm prefers rocky 



ridges and hillsides. 



SLIPPERY ELM 

 Leaves and fruit, X /^. 



CORK ELM (rock elm). Uiinus vacemosa Thomas. 



J 



The cork elm is a more valuable timber [tree but it is found only in 

 the limestone soils of western A'ermont and there but rarel}\ Its pecu- 

 liarity is a growth of corky ridges which sometimes project for half an 

 inch or more from all sides of the younger branches. The leaves resemble 

 those of the white elm but are more conspicuously downy upon the under 

 side along the mid-ribs. The bud scales are also downy and the young 

 branchlets somewhat so whereas those of the white elm are smooth. The 

 flowers are borne in open branching clusters, or racemes, and this charac- 

 teristic gives the Latin name to the species. The fruit, which matures 

 when the leaves are half grown, is somewhat larger than that of the other 

 elms. 



