Winged Elm 



347 



The hard, heavy, strong wood is light reddish brown in color and is locally 

 used for furniture. The tree has been planted for shade in some southern cities. 



3. CORK ELM Ulmus Thomasi Sargent 

 Ulmus racemosa Thomas, not Borckhausen 



The Cork elm, often called Rock elm, and sometimes Hickory elm, inhabits 

 hillsides and slopes, occurring from Quebec and Ontario to Michigan and Wis- 

 consin, south to Connecticut, northern New Jersey, Ohio, Missouri, and eastern 

 Nebraska. It attains a maximum height of about 35 meters, and the trunk is 

 occasionally at least i meter in thickness. 



The bark is thick and deeply fissured, gray or gray-brown and scaly. The 

 young twigs are brownish and softly velvety, ^ 

 becoming smooth after the first or second sea- 

 son, and usually developing two, three, or four 

 corky wings, which become about i cm. wide. 

 The oval to obovate leaves are short-pointed, 

 firm in texture, coarsely and usually doubly 

 toothed, 5 to 12 cm. long, the upper surface 

 smooth, shining and dark green at maturity, 

 with the veins impressed, the lower surface 

 finely hair}^, pale green, with the nerves promi- 

 nent; the large stipules fall away early; the leaf- 

 stalks are 4 to 10 mm. long. The flowers 

 appear before the leaves in early spring in 

 small smooth clusters, each borne on a very 

 slender, drooping stalk nearly i cm. long and 

 much longer than the calyx; the bell-shaped 

 calyx is lobed only to or above the middle, with blunt lobes; the stamens are a 

 little longer than the calyx, and the ovary is hair\\ The oval samaras are 12 to 

 20 mm. long, finely hairy all over, their short tips incun'ed. 



The wood is used extensively for bridges, sills, agricultural implements, and 

 railroad ties, being very strong and durable ; it is light brown with a specific gravity 

 of 0.73. The tree is occasionally planted for shade or ornament. Though long 

 known as Ulmus racemosa Thomas, botanically, this name was earlier applied to 

 a different species, and has to yield to the one here adopted. 



Fig. 304. Cork Elm. 



4. WINGED ELM Ulmus alata Michaux 



This southern tree attains a maximum height of about 20 meters, with a trunk 

 sometimes i meter in diameter. It ranges from Virginia westward through southern 

 Indiana and lUinois to Kansas, south to Florida and Texas, preferring dry soil. 



