146 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



Ulmus serotina, Sargent. 



A rather rare tree, pr()l)al)ly not distinguished from other ehns 

 by persons who are not botanists. It is not very easily recognized 

 in winter and summer, l)ut it is in spring and fall, for it differs 

 from all our other elms in blooming in September and October 

 instead of February and March. Nothing is known of its economic 

 properties, except that it is occasionally planted for shade. 



Grows in rich woods, on shaly bluffs or in calcareous soils. 

 Its distribution is imperfectly known, on account of the difficulty 

 of identifying it, and it may be commoner than we now suppose. 

 Dr. Mohr believed that it occurred in the black belt, but never had 

 an opportunity to verify that. 



lA. A few trees observed on south side of Mussel Shoals in Colbert 

 County, in October, 1922. 



IB. Limestone ridges, Madison County (Mohr). Bean Mountain, 

 Morgan County ( ? ) . Warnock Mountain, Blount County ( ? ) . 



2B. Walker and Tuscaloosa Counties.* 



3. On a limestone ridge north of Birmingham (C. L. Boynton).t 



PLANERA, Gmelin. 

 Planera aquatica (Walt.) Gmel. (Watkr) Elm. 



(Fig. 42) 



A small crooked tree, rarely over a foot in diameter, with 

 small two-ranked leaves much like those of I' hints alata, or per- 

 haps stilll more like those of Cavpinus. Flowers greenish, incon- 

 spicuous, in March. It is little known to persons not botanists, and 

 is probably not purposely selected for any use in Alabama. In 

 Georgia I have been told that s(jtiirrels are fond of its seeds. 



Grows on banks of rivers (and occasionally other bodies of 

 water) that fluctuate several feet (but not too much) with the 

 seasons. Almost confined to the coastal i)lain. Observed on the 

 Tennessee River near Florence, and on the Warrior and Tombigbee 

 almost every mile from the fall line at Tuscaloosa down to the 

 head of the Mobile delta. It seems to be less common on the 

 Alabama River, ])erhaps because that stream flucttiates more, as 

 already indicated tnider Taxodiitm disficluiiii. I have seen it on 

 the Alabama near Montgomery, and at House Bluff in Autauga 



*See Plant World 9:105. 1906; Jour. EHsha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 37:157. 

 1922. 



tBiltmore Bot. Stud. 1:143-144. 1902. 



