ELM FAMILY 



WINGED ELM. WAHOO 



Ulmtis a lata. 



A lata, winged, referring to the bark of the branchlets. 



Small tree, forty or fifty feet high, with short spreading branches 

 and open round-topped head, the smaller branches with corky wings. 

 Native to the southern states, though appearing in southern Illi- 

 nois and southern Indiana. Prefers dry gravelly uplands, though 

 found in alluvial soil. Roots fibrous. 



Bark. — Brown tinged with red, divided by shallow fissures into 

 flat ridges covered with small scales. Branchlets slender, light 

 green tinged with red, later become brown tinged with red and de- 

 velop corky wings which remain for a long time. 



Wood. — Light brown ; heavy, hard close-grained, not strong, but 

 difficult to split. Has very little value. Sp. gr., 0.7491 ; weight of 

 cu. ft., 46.68 lbs. 



Winter Buds. — Leaf-buds slender, acute, one-eighth of an inch 

 long, smooth or downy ; flower-buds longer. 



Leaves. — Alternate, ovate-oblong, often slightly falcate, two to 

 two and a half inches long, oblique or rounded at base, doubly ser- 

 rate, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud conduplicate, 

 pale green, often tinged with red, hairy, when full grown are thick, 

 firm, dark green and smooth above, pale green, downy below. 

 Feather-veined, midrib and veins prominent. In autumn they turn 

 a pale yellow. Petioles short, stout, hairy. Stipules large, caducous. 



Flowers. — March, before the leaves. Per- 

 fect, greenish brown. Borne on drooping ped- 

 icels in few-flowered clusters, furnished with 

 both bracts and bractlets. 



Calyx. — Campanulate, with five ovate, 

 rounded lobes, imbricate in bud. 



Corolla. — Wanting. 



Stamens. — As many as the lobes 

 corolla. 



of the 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, raised on a short 

 stipe and coated with white tomentum, one- 

 celled by abortion ; stigmas two. 



Fruit. — Samaras, winged all round ; mature 

 at the unfolding of the leaves, oblong, one- 

 third of an inch long, borne on a drooping 

 stem, downy on the faces, tipped with incurved downy horns, 

 margins densely ciliate. Wing narrow compared to seed. 



246 



Winged Elm, Ulmiis alata. 

 Samaras "%' to >^' long. 



