ELM FAMILY 



The Wahoo or Winged Elm is a native of the southern 

 states ranging along the line of Virginia, southern Illinois, 

 and southern Indiana, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. 



Its leaves are smaller than those of the White Elm ; its 

 samaras are the smallest of all the elms ; its wood has inter- 

 laced fibres which make it difficult to split; its economic 

 value is virtually nothing. It grows rapidly, branches low to 

 the ground, has beautiful and abundant foliage and may well 

 claim a place in our parks and lawns. 



The most remarkable thing about the tree are the corky 

 ridges along the sides of the branches from which the name 

 alata has been given to the species. 



ENGLISH ELM 



Ulmus campe'stris. 



This elm was brought over to New England at an early 

 date in the history of the colonies and there are vigorous 

 specimens about Boston fully one hundred and fifty years old. 

 Although known to us as the English Elm, competent opinion 

 inclines to the belief that it was brought into England by the 

 Romans and is not native to the island. This is the common 

 elm tree of Europe and has been valued there both for its 

 timber and its beauty from very ancient times. It does not 

 have the drooping habit of our American elms but rather takes 

 on the appearance of the oak. The leaves are oblique, often 

 two-shouldered, rough, feather-veined and doubly serrate. 

 Its seedlings vary greatly. 



The ancient poets frequently mention this tree which, in 

 common with many other barren trees, was devoted by them 

 to the infernal gods. The Greeks and Romans considered all 

 trees which produce no fruit fit for human use as funereal trees. 

 Homer alludes to this when he tells us that Achilles raised a 

 monument to the father of Andromache in a grove of elms : 



Jove's sylvan daughters bade their ehns bestow 

 A barren, shade, and in his honor grow. 



—Iliad, Book VI, 



243 



