38 Trees, Stars, and Birds 



The American elm. Without the flowers or fruit, or 

 even the leaves, an American elm may be distinguished 



American Forestry 

 FIG. 23. Leaves, flowers, and fruits of American elm. 



from other trees. Its bark is dark and rough, with deep 

 fissures. The trunk is short and divides into large 

 branches before reaching the upper parts of the tree. 

 The small branches or twigs are slender and the outer 

 ones drooping, giving it a graceful appearance by which 

 you can tell it at a considerable distance even in winter. 

 In the woods the American elm sometimes grows to 

 be more than 100 feet tall, and in open places a large 

 tree spreads over a wide area. There have been well- 

 known trees of this kind in the older cities of the Eastern 



