CHAP. CI. ULMA‘CER. U’LMUS. 1373 
several in India. Some of them grow in moist soil. Most of them are trees 
with spreading heads and slender branchlets. In some, the bark of the 
branchlets and branches has white oblong spots scattered here and there. 
Leaves alternate, in 2 ranks, ovate and pointed, unequal at the base, serrate; 
rough on the upper surface, apparently from the callous bases and remains 
of bristles ; annual in the kinds bardy in Britain, and these have the primary 
veins forming but a small angle with the midrib, and extending through a 
considerable portion of the length of the disk of the leaf. Stipules lanceolate, 
soon falling off. Leaves in the bud not folded, but plaited, with scales present 
between leaf and leaf. Fleshy part of the fruit eatable, but small in quantity. 
(1. Nees ab Esenbeck, Gen. Pl. Fl. Germ.; Spreng. Syst. ; Wats. Dend. 
Brit. ; Smith in Rees’s Cycl.; Duby et Dec. Bot, Gallic.; and observations.) 
Genus I. 
wy 
lene 
a 
LJ 
U’LMUS L. Tue Evo. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. 
Identification. Lin. Gen., 123. ; Lam. Ill., t. 185. ; T. Nees ab Esenbeck Gen. PJ. Fl. Germ., fase. 5 
t. 3.; Sm, Engl. Fl, 2. p. 1, 2 and 19. ; Lindl. Nat. Syst. of Bot., p. 179. 
Synonymes. Orme, Fr.; Ulm, or Riister, Ger. ; Olmo, [tal. 
erivation, U’\mus is supposed to be derived from the Saxon word elm, or ulm; a name which is 
applied, with very slight alterations, to this tree, in all the dialects of the Celtic tongue. Ulm is 
still one of the German names for the elm; and the city of Ulm is said to derive its name from 
the great number of elm trees that are growing near it. There are above forty places in England, 
mentioned in the Doomsday-Book, which take their names from that of the elm; such as Barn 
Elms, Nine Elins, &c. 
Description, §c. The elms are long-lived trees, with hard wood ; rugged, and 
sometimes corky, bark; and zigzag, somewhat slender, branches. The leaves 
are alternate, stalked, deciduous, in general serrated and harsh ; unequal at the 
base, and bearing tufts of hairs at the axils of the primary veins. The flowers 
are earlier than the leaves, tufted, copious, and dark red ; the capsules are pale, 
chaffy, and light, serving as a wing to the seed, which is often imperfect. (See 
Smith’s Engl. Flora, ii. p. 19.) The roots of young plants, in some of the 
species, are of leathery toughness, very strong, of considerable length and 
suppleness. The commoner, and perhaps all, the kinds increase rapidly in 
the number and the size of their roots and branches. U. campéstris emits 
suckers from the older roots, which are extended under the surface of the 
soil; but this is not the case with U. montana. All have strong upright- 
growing trunks ; but these vary, in the several kinds, in their diameters and 
length. The disposition of the branches relatively to the trunk, and to the 
head which they constitute, also varies exceedingly; and considerable dif- 
ference of character prevails in the spray. For example, the tufted twigs 
of U. campéstris bear very little resemblance to the prominent wand-like 
shoots which stand out thinly over the surface of the heads of young 
trees of U. montana, and all its varieties, or allied species; though in old 
trees the branches spread horizontally, and become drooping at their extre- 
mities. The tufted shoots of U. campéstris assume occasionally the character 
of knots of entangled cord; and those tufts are called witch knots in some 
places. The character of the foliage is nearly the same in all the kinds of 
elm. That of U. campéstris is very striking, from the smallness of the leaves, 
their number, the depth of their green, and their somewhat rounded figure : 
they remain on, also, till very late in theyear. In U. montana, U.m. glabra, 
U. americana, and in some other kinds, the leaves are large, long, and some- 
times pointed, with the marginal teeth more obyious, though, perhaps, only 
from the size of the disk; their green is lighter; and, in general, they fall 
off much earlier, than those of U. campéstris. The different kinds vary, also, 
considerably in their time of leafing. The leaves of all the sorts have the base 
unequal, the margins doubly dentated, and are feather-nerved. The flowers 
are always protruded before the leaves, and are disposed in small groups, 
