Ulmaceae 

 (ETnTFaoily) 



The llexican lilm 



Ulmas mexicana (LieQ:aann) Planchon, D.G. Prcdr. 17: 166-1673 



D esc ri£ti on of the t ree 



A lofty, decidiious forest tree. Trunk 25 to 30 m. high, 

 limbs ascending, crown ovate, lark: gray, somewhat scaly, 

 Folial and floral buds protected by distichous, ovate, yellow- 

 ish brown deciduous scales; leaves peticlate, ijubescent cr 

 hairy-pubescent when young, more or less glabrous and thick 

 in their mature state, the petiole thin, rounded, 5 to 14 nrn. 

 long, the blade slightly oblique, ovate to elliptic, or more 

 or less oblong, rounded and subemarginate at base, ac^iminate 

 at tip, paler beneath, 7 to 11 cm. long, 2,5 to 4.5 c:a, 

 broad, the nervation prominent beneath, the margin serrate 

 or b i surra te, Iiiflorescence racemose, the elongate racemes 

 api^earing before the leaves of the season aixd in the axils 

 cf those of the ^.ast season. Flowers in alternate glomerules 

 of 3 or less; bracteoles caducous, short and broad, ciliate; 

 pedicels 3 to 6 m;n, long, slender, pubescent; perianth per- 

 sistent, broadly campanula te, yellow, pubescent outside, 

 2,5 to 3 mm. long 4- to o-lobulate, the lobules irregularly 

 denticulate, rounded or subacute and apiculate, ciliate on 

 the margin; stamens 3 to 5, exserted, the filaments erect, 

 slender, the anthers ovate-rounded, 2-Gelled; ovary stipi- 

 tate, ovate-depressed, hairy*-Giliate on the margin; styles 

 2, elongate, with a velvety stigmatic surface. 



Samara glabrous on both faces, ciliate on the margin, 

 the pedicel long and hairy, 



Ulmus mex i cana sheds its leaves in i^ecember and loses 

 its blossoms in ilarch, the new foliage following immedia- 

 tely, There is considerable variation in the leaves, de- 

 pending Uj^on the degree of exi^osure to light or shade. 



D escription of the wood 



Sapwood thick, very light brown; heartwcod much darker 

 and occasionally marked bir numerous nearly black lines. 



