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ELM. 



Family: AMENTACEAE. [Translator's note: now ULMACEAE] 

 Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, DIGYNY. 



The common elm, Ulmus campestris, Linn., is a large tree with a straight trunk. 

 Its bark often is cracked and sometimes fungous like that of the cork tree. Its wood is 

 hard, reddish yellow, but liable to warp if used before it's sufficiently dry, "Hie leaves are 

 oval, pointed, doubly dentate on the margins, and sometimes very small. The flowers are 

 sessile and hermaphroditic; the calyx has four or five sections. There are five stamens; 

 one variety has only four. The fruit is a smooth elliptical pericarp enclosed in a 

 membrane and contains a seed at its center. 



FLOWERS: in April and May. 



RANGE: France and Europe. 



NOMENCLATURE. German, ulmbaum, ruster. Dutch, olm, olmboom. English, 

 elm, elm-tree. Russian, ilim, ilina. Polish, Urn. Hungarian, szet-fa. 



USES. The wood of the elm tree is extensively used by wheelwrights because of 

 its enduring resistance to air and water. It's made into axles, hubs and rims of wheels, 

 screws for presses, etc. It makes excellent fuel for heating. In the north the bark is used to 

 make mats. The leaves are used as feed for livestock. Elm trees are very common along 

 public promenades and highways. Wood from the Tortillard elm [Translator's note: a 

 variety with knotty, gnarled wood] is used to make screws for wine presses and rollers for 

 copper-plate printers. It's highly valued because the fibers of this variety of elm are 

 harder and more compact. Theopbrastus and Pliny claim that the wood of the elm tree is 

 the strongest next to that of the dogwood. 



