746 



THE ELM FAMILY. 



Fruit slightly notched at the top, the seed-bearing cavity 



placed considerably below the notch 1. Wi/ch E. 



Fruit deeply notched, the notch almost reaching the seed- 

 bearing cavity 2. Common E. 



1. "Wyoh Elm. Ulmus montana, Sm. (Fig. 900.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1887, and U. major, t. 2542.) 



A tree of considerable size and pic- 

 turesque form ; the large brandies 

 spreading from near the base unless when 

 drawn up in its youth. Leaves nearly 

 sessile, broadly ovate, bordered with 

 double teeth, and very unequal or ob- 

 lique at the base, usually rough on the 

 upper side and downy underneath. 

 Flowers reddish, in dense clusters, sur- 

 rounded by brownish bracts, which soon 

 fall off; the pedicels scarcely as long as 

 the perianth. Fruits green and leaf- 

 like, broadly ovate or orbicular, 6 to 9 

 lines long, with a small notch at the top ; 

 the seed suspended in a small cavity 

 near the centre of the fruit. 



Chiefly in hilly districts, in northern 

 and western Europe. In Britain, it is 

 the common wild Elm of Scotland, Ireland, and northern and western 

 England, but seldom planted, and rare in south-eastern England, where 

 a variety of the common E. is often called tvych Elm. Fl. early spring, 

 before the leaves come out. 



Fig. 900. 



2. Common Elm. Ulmus eampestris, Sm. (Fig. 901.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1886, U. suberosa, t. 2161, and U. glabra, t. 2248.) 



Very near the tuych E., and many botanists consider the two races 

 as forming but one species. The common E. appears however to be 

 generally, if not constantly, distinguished by the fruit, which is deeply 

 notched, the top of the seed-bearing cavity almost reaching the notch. 

 It is usually also a taller and straighter-growing tree, attaining in rich 

 soils above a hundred feet ; the young branches are more slender, and 

 the leaves usually smaller and less coarse ; but all these characters 

 are very variable. 



Widely spread over central, southern, and eastern Europe, and 

 western Asia, and the most generally planted species. In Britain, it 

 is the most frequent one in central, southern, and eastern England, but 



