14-06 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Y 9. U. AMERICA\\A L. The American Elm. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. PI., 327. ; \Viltd. Sp. PL, 1. p. 1325., exclusive of the var. y ; Willd. Enum. 



Hort. Berol., p. 295., ai:d Suppl., p. 14. ; Poiret. Encycl. Mcth., 4. p. 611. ; Michx- Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. 



p. 172. ; Rcem. et Schult. Syst, 6. p. 300. ; Pur*h Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 199., exclusive of the var. 



; Michx. Arb., 3. p. 269. ; North Amer. Sylva, 3. p. 83. t. 126. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., No. 3., exclusive 



of the var. pendula ; Smith in Rees's Cyclop , No. 7. ; Lodd. Cat, ed. 1836. 

 Si/nonymcs. The white Elm, Amer. ; the Canadian Elm ; the American white Elm. 

 Engravings. Michx. North Amer. Sylva, 3. t. 126. ; and our fig. 1246. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaf with the petiole 1 U in. long, and hairy with short 

 hairs; and the disk unequal at the base, 4 5 in. long, inclusive of a long 

 acuminate point, 2 2 in. broad, serrate, and mostly doubly so ; the axils 

 of the veins underneath joined by a membrane. Flowers peduncled, effuse ; 

 peduncles short, glabrous. Stamens 5 and 8. Samara fringed at the edge 

 with hairs, ovate, acute. {Willd. Enum. and Suppl., Rcem. et Sclnilt. Syst. 

 J'eg.) This species is readily distinguishable from others hy the membrane 

 which appears at the axils of the veins. ( Willd. Enum. Suppl.) Young 

 branches brown> with short, very fine hairs. Leaves deeply green above, 

 almost glossy, rough ; beneath, pale, downy. Flowers like those of U. effusa. 

 Wild in North America, in low woods, from New England to Carolina. 

 A tree, growing, in North America, to the height of 80 ft. or 100 ft. Intro- 

 duced in 1752 ; but rarely flowering, and never ripening seeds, in England. 



Varieties. 



t U. a. 1 rubra Ait. Hort. Kew., i. p. 319. Branches red. Leaves ovate, 



rugose, rough. {Rcem. et Schult. Syst. Vcgi) 

 U. a. 2 alba Ait. Hort. Kew., i. p. 319. ; Marsh., p. 250. Branches 



whitish. Leaves oblong, rough. ? U. mollifolia. {Rcem. et Scludt. 



Syst. Veg.) 

 U. a. 3 pendula Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., i. p. 200., Ait. Hort. Kew., 



1. p. 319., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Branches pendulous. 

 U. a. 4 incisa H. S. See the plate in our last Volume. This variety 



differs from the other varieties, in having the leaves somewhat more 



deeply serrated, and rather smaller, approaching nearer to those of 



U. effusa. There is a tree in the Horticultural Society's Garden, 



which, in 1834, was 27ft. high. 



Description, $c. The leaves of the white American elm, according to 

 Michaux, are 4 in. or 5 in. long, borne on short petioles, alternate, unequal at 

 the base, oval-acuminate, and doubly denticulated : they are generally smaller 

 than those of the red elm (7'lmus (a.) fulva). The flowers 

 appear before the leaves, and are very small ; of a purple 

 colour, supported by short slender footstalks, and united in 

 bunches at the extremity of the branches. The seeds are j 

 contained in flat, oval, fringed capsules, notched at the base. 

 The trunk is covered with a tender white bark, very deeply 

 furrowed. In favourable situations, on the banks of rivers, 

 the tree reaches a great height, and displays extraordinary 

 magnificence of vegetation. " In clearing the primitive 

 forests," says Michaux, " a few specimens of the white elm 

 are sometimes left standing. Insulated in this manner, it 

 appears in all its majesty, towering to the height of 80 ft. or 

 100ft., with a trunk 4ft. or 5ft. in diameter; regularly 

 shaped, naked, and insensibly diminishing to the height of 

 60ft. or 70ft.; when it divides itself into two or three 

 primary limbs. The limbs, not widely divergent near the 1246 



base, approach and cross each other 8ft. or 10ft. higher; and diffuse on 

 all sides long, flexible, pendulous branches, bending into regular arches, and 

 floating lightly in the air. A singularity is observed in this tree, which I 

 have witnessed in no other: two small limbs, 4ft. or 5ft. long, grow in a 

 reversed position near the first ramification, and descend along the trunk." 

 (N. Amer. Syl , iii. p. 85.) In New Hampshire, he adds, " a great number of 

 young white elms are seen detached in the middle of the pastures : they 



