142 THE TREE BOOK 



bright, they would note a number of brown 

 shining buds. Soon they burst their scales and 

 appear in clusters of from ten to twenty tiny 

 reddish-brown blossoms. "In cities where the 

 elm is a common tree the sidewalks are strewn 

 with these discarded bud scales," says Keeler, 

 "but the flowers are so small, so brown and so 

 high that the world walks by, thinking, * The elm 

 never blossoms.' Six weeks later the same 

 sidewalks are covered with little, flat, green 

 samaras half an inch long, often as unnoticed 

 as the blossoms which preceded them. The 

 leaves come out of their buds a pale tender 

 green and folded like little fans. They appear 

 late because it is a law of the woodlands that 

 the trees shall bring forth flowers before 

 leaves." 



There are thirteen types of the elm. The 

 American, or common elm, has perhaps the 

 widest range, and excels all others in height 

 and beauty. It is also known as the white elm 

 and water elm. The tree grows rapidly and 

 was a great favorite with "the settlers." We 

 find it in rich moist soil throughout the North- 

 em Hemisphere. 



The slippery elm is familiar to nearly all 

 country boys and girls east of the Rockies. 

 The inner bark of the tree is "slippery," fra- 



