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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 76: AMERICAN ELM
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

AMERICAN ELM

Ulmus americana, L.

Form.—Height 60-100 feet, diameter 2-6 feet, sometimes much larger; trunk usually dividing 25-30 feet above the ground; crown varied in form, usually wide-spreading.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 4-6 inches long, oval, coarsely-doubly-serrate, oblique at the base, thick, dark green and rough above, paler and smoother beneath.

Flowers.—April, before the leaves, mostly perfect; borne in dense fascicles, corolla absent, calyx 5-9 round-lobed, stamens with red anthers, styles two, green.

Fruit.—Matures in spring soon after the flowers; oval samara consisting of a flat seed surrounded by a wing which has a terminal notch and ciliate margin.

Bark.—Rough, with deep fissures and scaly ridges, ashy-gray.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, not easily split, light brown.

Range.—Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and south to Florida and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—A very common tree, especially at low elevations. Not often found in the counties adjoining the Alleghanies.

Habitat.—Prefers rich bottom lands.

Notes.—The American or White Elm is one of the most valuable and magnificent trees of the United States. Its wood is extensively used where toughness is desired, as in wagon hubs. It grows to a very large size and over a wide range, and is unsurpassed in elegance of form and other characteristics which make it valuable for park and street planting. In low wet grounds it may be grown for forestry purposes.