ELM FAMILY 



ing closely to the twig as they do they have little independent 

 motion but move with the branch. An elm leaf can be easily 

 recognized by its unequal base, the part of the leaf on one 

 side of the midrib is considerably larger than that upon the 



other. Although a fa- 



?«^ 



Unfolding Leaves of White Elm, Ulmus americana. 



vorite city shade tree 

 the elm does not thrive 

 where soft coal is habit- 

 ually burned. The rough 

 leaves catch the soot 

 which sticks fast, seems 

 to smother the trees, and 

 in time destroys them. 



One who recognizes it 

 only in leaf does not 

 really know a deciduous 

 tree, for it is when stripped like an athlete for its contest 

 with the winds and storms of winter, that it discloses the 

 secret of its grace, its weakness, or its strength. No tree 

 endures this test better than the elm and its typical form is 

 so marked that it can be easily recognized even at night 

 when outlined against the sky. 



A peculiar characteristic of the wood is the wonderful 

 twisting and interlacing of its fibres which give itan exceed- 

 ing toughness. A characteristic immortalized by Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes in "The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay." 



The hubs of logs from the '• Settler's ellum," 

 Last of its timber,— they couldn't sell 'em. 

 Never an axe had seen their chips, 

 And the wedges flew from between their lips. 

 Their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips. 



The Elms are an ancient race ; traces of them exist in 

 the tertiary rocks of Greenland, and in the miocene pe- 

 riod they flourished in Europe, western Asia and North 

 America. 



A few elm trees have become historic, either because of 



238 



