THE ELMS AND THE HACKBERRY 



is a separate species, but they are all different 

 types of the same tree. The Etruscan vase is 

 one of the most familiar shapes of this elm. Its 

 trunk divides a short way from the ground into 

 several equally large branches, and the top of 

 the tree is flat, with down-sweeping lateral 

 branches. The beautiful Lancaster elm, from 

 which the accompanying photograph was taken, 

 belongs to this Etruscan vase form. Another 

 well-known shape is the plume, which may be 

 either single or compound. In these trees the 

 single trunk or two or three parallel limbs rise 

 to a great height without branches, and these 

 spread into one or two light waving plumes. 

 Many of these plume elms are found in the 

 Berkshire Hills and throughout New England 

 where the woods have been cut away and the 

 elms have been left standing. The oak form, 

 still another shape the elm occasionally takes, 

 is broad and round-headed, with heavy lateral 

 branches which extend in a horizontal direction 

 in a manner very suggestive of the white oak. 

 This is not so common as the vase and plume 

 elms, and only occurs when the tree has grown 

 in an open situation with plenty of air and 

 light. A fine specimen of this tree stands near 

 the Pratt house, in Concord, Massachusetts. 

 " Feathered " elms are those which have a 



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