American Elm

Ulmus americana

American Elm 

American author Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freemen (1852-1930) wrote the following laudation about the American elm in her 1903 publication of short stories titled “Six Trees”: 

“There was not in the whole countryside another tree which could compare with him. He was matchless. Never a stranger passed the elm but stopped, and stared, and said or thought something about it. Even dull rustics looked, and had a momentary lapse from vacuity.” 

Once abundant, the American elm has largely fallen victim to Dutch Elm Disease, a wilt fungus introduced to North America in the 1930s. Today, large, mature trees are rare, with scientists estimating that only about one in 100,000 American elms are DED-tolerant, and that most existing today have survived only by lack of exposure to the disease. 

The wood of the American elm is hard, with interlocking fibers that are hard to split, which – prior to disease – made it an ideal choice for hockey sticks.  

The following identification information is from Trees of Alabama, a Gosse Nature Guide by Lisa J. Samuelson. Use of this text was permitted by the University of Alabama. Order your own copy of this great guide to Alabama’s trees here: https://www.amazon.com/Trees-Alabama-Gosse-Nature-Guides/dp/0817359419

American Elm Ulmus americana L.  

COMMON NAMES American elm, white elm, water elm  

QUICK GUIDE Leaves alternate, simple, obovate, apex acuminate, base greatly inequilateral, margin doubly serrate; upper surface mostly smooth but can be scabrous; twigs and buds mostly glabrous; fruit a round, notched, pubescent samara; bark gray-brown with scaly ridges and brown-white inner layers.  

DESCRIPTION Leaves are alternate, simple, deciduous, obovate, ovate or elliptical, and 8-15 cm (3.1-5.9 in) long; apex is acuminate; base is greatly inequilateral; margin is doubly serrate; upper surface is smooth or slightly scabrous (can be very scabrous on saplings); autumn color is yellow. Twigs slightly zigzag and are slender, red-brown, and mostly glabrous; leaf scar is semicircular with three or more bundle scars. A true terminal bud is lacking; lateral bud is ovoid to acute, about 6 mm (0.2 in) long, and divergent; scales are red-black and mostly glabrous. Flowers are perfect and long-stalked and bloom in red-brown clusters in the spring before the leaves. Fruit is a samara, nearly round, about 1 cm (0.4 in) wide, and deeply notched at the apex; margin has a dense white pubescence; fruit matures in the spring with the developing leaves. Bark is gray to gray-brown with scaly ridges, revealing alternating brown and white layers when cut. The growth form is up to 38 m (125 ft) in height and 1.5 m (5 ft) in diameter, with drooping branches and a forked or vase-shaped trunk. 

HABITAT Moist soils, including upland sites but more common on bottomlands, terraces, and stream and swamp edges.  

NOTES Forest associates of American elm include boxelder, red maple, silver maple, sugarberry, hackberry, American beech, southern magnolia, sweetbay magnolia, white and green ash, sweetgum, sycamore, eastern cottonwood, and slippery elm. The wood is whitish-gray to brown, moderately heavy, and moderately hard; is used for boxes, crates, pallets, and furniture; and was used in shipbuilding and for wheel hubs. The bark was used by Native Americans to make rope and canoes. The seeds are eaten by wood ducks, wild turkey, and a variety of songbirds. Before Dutch elm disease, American elm was a favorite urban shade tree.  

Ulmus is Latin for “elm tree”; americana refers to the New World.