ELMS 



The elms belong to the genus Ulmus, a Latin word which carries a ref- 

 erence to an instrument of punishment, probably because slaves were commonly 

 whipped with rods of elm. There are about eighteen species distributed 

 through the colder and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Few 

 of our trees have a wider distribution. The elms are mostly tall trees with 

 medium sized leaves, and small greenish brown flowers that appear mostly be- 

 fore the leaves. They have graceful outlines and luxuriant foliage which gives 

 them a dignified and courtly appearance. They are often called the aristocrats 

 of trees. 



The Wych elm of England used to be considered a preservative against 

 witchcraft, and a branch was put in a churn to prevent the cream from being 

 bewitched and the coming of the butter hindered. The forked branches of the 

 tree were used as divining rods, and riding switches from it were supposed to 

 insure good luck on a journey. 



Early English peoples worshipped their heathen deities in elm groves 

 which led the Saxon King Edgar to issue the following decree : 



"We decree that every priest shall anxiously advance Christianity 

 and forbid tree-worship, divination with the dead, omens, chorus with 

 songs, and many other illusions which are practiced in asylums on Elms 

 and on various other trees, by which many are perverted who ought not 

 to be so." 



The American elm is closely associated with early colonial history. In 

 "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," Oliver Wendell Holmes characteristi- 

 cally describes it : 



"The American elm is tall, graceful, slender-sprayed, and drooping 

 as if from languor. The English elm is compact, robust, holds its 

 branches up, and carries its leaves for weeks longer than our own 

 native tree. Is this typical of the creative force on the two sides of the 

 ocean, or not?" 



English people used to gather under elms on the village greens to debate 

 public questions. This old custom probably led the early settlers in New 

 England to plant elms in their dooryards and on the village greens, and to 

 regard them as symbols of liberty. Liberty Elms were planted in Boston, 



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