Trees, Shown to the Children

There are two kinds of Elm which grow abundantly in this country, and both are lofty, noble trees. The Common Elm (1) you will recognise easily, because its rough black trunk is clothed right down to the ground with a dense mass of brushwood. This brushwood is really a forest of small branches, and shoots, and twigs which spring from the Elm tree root; and if you separate some of these young shoots and plant them alone they will grow into young Elm tree saplings.

In winter you will always know the Common Elm by its brushwood clothing, and in early spring, in March, after there have been a few sunny days, you will see tiny green leaf buds opening in this brushwood sheaf before the large upper branches show any signs of life.

The Common Elm is one of our tallest trees. It has a thick rough trunk, on which are many large gnarled bosses or knobs. The bark of the tree is very rugged and is covered with many deep furrows.

The branches of this Elm do not grow gracefully in sweeping curves like those of the Ash tree; they have a dwarf, zig-zag appearance, and often they are twisted and knotted.

The young twigs that grow on these branches are short and tiny, a network of little bushy sprays growing close to the branch, and their bark is downy and corky when it is young, but becomes hard as the season advances.

In early spring these tiny twigs bear many small scaly buds (3) like beads. These beads open very early, before the end of April, and from each there bursts a bunch of flowers (4). What you notice first in this flower tuft is the crowd of reddish stamens with large purple heads. But if you gently pull to pieces one of these flower bunches, you will find that the stamens are not growing loose, but that they are held together in groups of five or more, in a dark green or purplish vase (5). This vase is funnel-shaped, and widens out round the mouth into four scallops. The oval seed-vessel (6) is at the bottom, hidden from sight. Do not forget to notice that in the Elm tree the stamens and seed-vessel grow close together in one flower.

The stamens soon shrivel and fall off, and their place is taken by bunches of flat green wings (7), each with a tiny knob in the centre, which is the fruit. These green shields, or wings, serve the same purpose as the keys or wings of the Ash tree. They are thin and light like paper, and in the Common Elm each shield is deeply notched at one end, almost to the centre seed.

When the seed is ripe the wind blows these bunches of papery shields away from the twigs, and they are carried long distances.

The Elm tree seed is almost ripe before the leaves (2) begin to sprout. The leaf buds are pink and downy, and the young leaves are folded fan-ways inside. Each leaf has a short stalk, and is small and narrow, with two rows of unequally-sized teeth round the edge. These leaves are rough and harsh above, with many hairs along the centre rib, hairs like those on the Nettle, which is a member of the same family as the Elm, but these hairs, though they irritate, do not actually sting. In October the leaves turn yellow, and after a touch of frost they fall in showers.

Sometimes you will notice large black spots disfiguring the leaves. These spots are caused by a minute plant which makes its home on the leaf and in the end destroys it. After the leaves have fallen, they lie on the ground till spring comes again, then this black plant increases rapidly, and soon covers all the leaf, which quickly decays.

Cattle love the Elm tree leaves when they are green and young, and in some places they are stripped from the trees in sackfuls to feed the cows.

Many insects make their home on the Elm tree. The caterpillar of the large tortoise-shell butterfly feeds on the leaves, and there is an insect beetle that burrows little tunnels in the wood and loosens the bark from the tree. If you pick up some pieces of Elm tree wood where a woodman has been sawing, you will see curious markings like the veins of a skeleton leaf, tunnelled in the wood. These are made by a tiny beetle, and are very injurious to the tree.

But the beetle has an enemy that comes to the tree’s rescue. Sometimes on a still day if you are sitting quietly in the woods, you will hear a gentle tap-tapping close beside you. This is the woodpecker, a bird which is perched on the rough bark of the Elm tree, and with his bill he pecks at the tree in search of insects which form his favourite meal.

Birds love the Elm trees, as their shade is not too dense to shut out the sunshine, and you will often find rooks’ nests in the upper branches, tossed and swayed by the gales.

The Elm tree is useful for many purposes. Farmers plant it in their hedgerows, as grass will grow freely above its roots.

In Italy the Elms are trained to carry the Vines. The young trees have all their lower branches cut off, leaving the bare stem like a living pole; round this pole the slender vine is twined, and its graceful trails hang in festoons from the crown of Elm branches which are left at the top of the pole to give shade. In poetry you read of the Vine tree wedded to the common Elm, which it clasps with its clinging arms.

Elm tree wood is very valuable as timber. These rough bosses which grow on the trunk are prized by cabinet-makers, who find the wood curiously veined and streaked.

The inner lining of the bark is very tough, and is made into ropes and garden string or bast, as in the Lime tree. And the wood is sought for all purposes where durability is needed; it lasts well in water, and is much in demand for ship-building.

The Wych Elm or Broad-leaved Elm resembles the Common Elm in many ways, but there are several small differences you must note. There is no brushwood sheaf clothing the base of the Wych Elm trunk; it is bare and rough right down to the ground. The leaves are larger and much broader, resembling those of the Hazel, and the branches of the Wych Elm are long and spreading and much more graceful than the twisted boughs of its sister Elm.

If you look carefully at the green wings that surround the tiny seed of the Wych Elm and compare it with those of the Common Elm, you will find that the seed lies nearly in the centre of the wing, and that the notch which is cut at the end of the wing is smaller than the deep notch of the Common Elm.

The Wych Elm is far the more graceful of the two trees, and it grows much more quickly than its rugged sister.

The name Wych is supposed to be Scotch. Small pieces of the wood were said to be effective as charms against witches, and country dairy-maids used to place a tiny bit of this Elm wood in the churn so that the witches could not prevent the milk from becoming butter!