Trees of New York State 201 



ULMACEAE 



Ulmiis fulv.'i Miclix. | I'liiuis pubescens Walt.] 



Slippery Elm, Red Elm 



Habit — A inediuni-sized tree, usually 40-60 feet in height with a trunk 

 (liaiiioter of 1-2V2 feet^ occasionally under optiinuin conditions 80 feet 

 t,"ill. Bole usually short, soon breaking up into a number of large, spread- 

 ing limbs to form a broad, open, flat-topped head. 



Leaves — Alternate, oval to obovate, 5-7 inches long, 2-3 inches wide acumi- 

 nate at the apex, rounded and inequilateral at the base, coarsely doubly 

 serrate, at maturity thick, firm, dark green and rough papillose witli 

 impressed veins above, pale dense white-hairy below, borne on stout, 

 pubescent petioles about hi of an iucii long. 



Flowers — Perfect, short pedicellate, appearing before the leaves during April 

 and early May in short pedunculate, 3-flowered inflorescences from the 

 axils of the inner scales of separate flower buds, each bud giving rise to 

 a globose cluster. Oalyx campanulate, green, pale-hairy, .5-9-lobed, the 

 lobes short and rounded. Stamens as many as the corolla lobes, exserted, 

 with slender, pale yellow filaments and red anthers. Pistil consisting of 

 a compressed, 2-celled ovary surmounted by 2 reddish purple, divergent 

 styles stignratic along their inner margin. 



Fruit — A 1-seeded, oval-orbicular, short-stalked, pale green samara, V2-% 

 of an iiicli long, marked by a horizontal line indicating the union of the 

 2 carpels, smooth aside from a rusty-tomentose area on the face over the 

 seminal cavity, ripening when the leaves are about half grown. Wing 

 broad, slightly emarginate at the apex of the fruit, rounded or somewhat 

 wedge-shaped at the base, naked on the margin, obscurely reticulate 

 veined. 



Winter characters — Twigs stout, somewhat scabrous, roughened by the raised 

 lenticels and leaf-scars, pale pubescent, ashy gray to grayish brown, at 

 length dark grayish brown. Terminal bud absent. Leaf-buds toward the 

 end of twig, ovate, bluntly acute, rusty-tomentose, dark chestnut-brown, 

 about 14 of an inch long. Flower buds stouter and thicker than the leaf- 

 buds, situated farther back on the twig. Mature bark thick, rough, shal- 

 lowly fissured, ashy gray to dark reddish brown. Inner bark pale white, 

 fragrant, strongly mucilaginous. 



Habitat — Stream banks and low fertile slopes, preferring deep, rich soils. 

 Thrives on limestone outcrops. 



Bange — Southern Canada, west to North Dakota, south to Florida and Texas. 

 Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — Not an important timber species. Wood hard, heavy, strong, coarse- 

 textured, dark reddish broT^Ti with paler sapwood, durable in contact with 

 the soil. Used for fence posts, railroad ties, slack cooperage, wheel hubs 

 and agricultural implements. The mucilaginous inner bark is of value 

 medicinally. 



