BOTANICAL NOTES ON BRITISH FOREST TREES. 339 



Wood not markedly distinct from that of the other 

 Poplars. 



Seeds and seedlings also resemble those of other 

 species. 



22. COMMON ELM. 

 Ulmus campestris (Sm.). Urticaceee. 



Tall tree with rounded head and latticed twigs. Twigs 

 with spreading simple hairs. Young branches often with 

 corky ridges (var. U. suberosa). Old bark like that of 

 Oak. 



Buds small, ovoid-obtuse, dark brown with stiff short 

 hairs. Terminal buds die off each year. 



Leaves shortly petiolate, distichous, rough, and 

 coarsely bi-serrate. Variable in shape ovate to obovate- 

 acuminate. Oblique at the base. Yenation prominent. 



Flowers small, hermaphrodite, red-brown, in dense 

 clusters, opening before the leaves in early spring. 



Fruit flat, obovate, veined, winged at the sides, and 

 deeply notched above, the two stigmas at the points of 

 the notch. One-seeded, and the seed placed above the 

 middle of the fruit. 



Wood yellowish to red-brown, with large spring 

 vessels, and those of the autumn wood in peripheral 

 groups. Medullary rays very fine. 



Seed exalbuminous, with a straight embryo, rarely 

 ripens in England. Cotyledons small, obovate, on 

 a slender hypocotyl. First leaves oblong acuminate, 

 coarsely serrate. 



z 2 



