American elm (EwA Guide to the Plants of the Fells (US))

American elm

Ulmus americana

Summary ⁷

Ulmus americana, generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Florida and central Texas. The American elm is an extremely hardy tree that can withstand winter temperatures as low as −42 °C (−44 °F). Trees in areas unaffected by Dutch elm disease can live for several hundred...

Taxon biology ⁸

The American Elm (Ulmus americana) is a native North American tree in the Ulmaceae family. Growing quickly when young, the American Elm has a broad or upright, vase-shaped silhouette, 80 to 100 feet high and 60 to 120 feet wide. Trunks on older trees can reach to seven feet across. Trees have an extensive but shallow root system. Propagation is by seed or cuttings; young plants transplant easily.

The six inch long, deciduous, double serrated leaves are dark green throughout the year, fading to yellow before dropping in fall. In early spring, before the new leaves unfold, its rather inconspicuous small green flowers appear on pendulous stalks. These blooms are followed by green, wafer-like seedpods which mature soon after flowering is finished. The seeds are quite popular with both birds and wildlife. American Elms must be at least 15 years old before they will bear seed.

The wood of American Elm is very hard and was a valuable timber tree used for lumber, furniture and veneer. Native Americans once made canoes out of American Elm trunks, and early settlers would steam the wood so it could be bent to make barrels and wheel hoops.

Once a very popular and long-lived (300+ years) shade and street tree, American Elm suffered a dramatic decline with the introduction of Dutch elm disease, a fungus spread by a bark beetle. It is vital to the health of existing trees that a program of monitoring be in place to administer special care to these disease- and pest-sensitive trees.

Sources and Credits

(c) Chris Poling, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Chris Poling
(c) Jenn Forman Orth, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/129906300_1aaa21470b.jpg
(c) User Henryhartley on en.wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Img_ulmus_americana_2209.jpg/460px-Img_ulmus_americana_2209.jpg
(c) Gerrit Davidse, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://images.mobot.org/tropicosthumbnails/TropicosImages2/100149000/100149628.jpg
(c) "<a href=""http://www.nal.usda.gov/"">National Agricultural Library</a>. Originally from <a href=""http://www.fs.fed.us/"">US Forest Service</a>. United States, DC, Washington.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=ulam_018_avp.tif
(c) "<a href=""http://www.nal.usda.gov/"">National Agricultural Library</a>. Originally from <a href=""http://www.fs.fed.us/"">US Forest Service</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=ulam_026_ahp.tif
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmus_americana
Adapted by Laura J. Costello from a work by Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/18705174

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