Flora of North America species comparison

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Ulmus crassifolia

Ulmaceae

cedar elm

elm family
Habit Trees, 24-27 m; crowns rounded to narrow. Trees or shrubs, deciduous (sometimes tardily deciduous in Ulmus).
Bark

light brown with shallow ridges and large plates.

smooth to deeply fissured or scaly and flaky;

sap watery.
Branches

often with opposite corky wings;

twigs reddish brown, pubescent.

Buds

brown, apex acute, pubescent;

scales dark brown, shiny, glabrous.

Leaves

blade ovate to elliptic, 2.5-5 × 1.3-2 cm, base oblique or rounded to cuneate, margins crenate to doubly serrate, apex obtuse;

surfaces abaxially softly pubescent, adaxially harshly pubescent.

blade: base often oblique, margins entire or serrate, crenate, or toothed;

venation pinnate to palmate-pinnate.
Inflorescences

fascicles, 2-5-flowered, 0.5 cm;

pedicel 0.75-1 cm.

axillary, cymes, racemes, fascicles, or flowers solitary, arising from branchlets of previous season (e.g., Ulmus) or of current season (e.g., Celtis).
Flowers

calyx deeply lobed, more than 1/2 its length, lobes 6-9, hairy;

stamens 5-6, anthers reddish purple;

stigmas white, pubescent, exserted and spreading.

bisexual or unisexual, staminate and pistillate on same [different] plants;

sepals persistent, (1-)5(-9), connate [distinct], imbricate or valvate;

petals absent;

stamens usually as many as calyx lobes, hypogynous, opposite calyx lobes, erect in bud;

filaments free or arising from calyx tube, distinct, curved or sigmoid in bud;

anthers 2-locular, dehiscence longitudinal;

pistils 1, 2(-3)-carpellate;

ovary 1(-2)-locular;

ovules 1 per locule, pendulous from apex of locule, anatropous or amphitropous;

styles (1-)2, distinct, receptive stigmatic area decurrent on distal inner margin of style branch.
Fruits

fleshy drupes, samaras, or nutlike.
Seeds

somewhat thickened, not inflated.

1;

arils absent;

endosperm absent to scanty, consisting of 1 layer of thick-walled cells;

embryo straight or curved.
Wood

hard.

Samaras

green to tan, elliptic to oval, ca. 0.75-1 cm, pubescent, margins ciliate, cilia ca. 0.5 mm.

2n

= 28.

Ulmus crassifolia

Ulmaceae
Phenology Flowering late summer–early fall.
Habitat Stream banks, low woods, low hillsides, roadsides, waste places, sometimes shade trees
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; FL; LA; MS; OK; TN; TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Tropical and north temperate regions
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Except for the Suwanee River valley in Florida, Ulmus crassifolia has not been found east of Webster County, Mississippi. It hybridizes with U. serotina.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Genera ca. 18, species ca. 150 (4 genera, 19 species in the flora).

Plants of this family are wind-pollinated (anemophilous).

Ulmaceae are frequently divided into two subfamilies, Ulmoideae and Celtoideae; they are sometimes separated into two families, Ulmaceae and Celtidaceae (I. A. Grudzinskaya 1965). These subfamilial or familial distinctions are supported by flavonoid chemistry (D. E. Giannasi and K. J. Niklas 1977; D. E. Giannasi 1978), pollen morphology (M. Zavada 1983), and some anatomic structures (E. M. Sweitzer 1971). Typically the Ulmoideae have flavonols, strictly pinnately veined leaves, and dry fruits; the Celtoideae have glycoflavones, pinnipalmately veined leaves, and drupaceous fruits. Some genera (e.g., Zelkova, with pinnately veined leaves and drupaceous fruits) are intermediate, and various authors place them in different subfamilies.

In this treatment Ulmus and Planera are considered part of the subfamily Ulmoideae; Celtis and Trema are in subfamily Celtoideae. Zelkova serrata is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in North America, but it is not known to be naturalized in the flora. Chemical similarities between subfamilies include the presence of proanthocyanins with some tannins and scattered mucilaginous cells or canals. Additionally, members of the family share a strong tendency toward mineralization of the cell walls with calcium carbonate or silica and possess solitary or clustered crystals of calcium oxalate.

Ulmaceae include trees and shrubs of horticultural importance.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blade pinnately veined; fruits dry, nutlike or samaras.
→ 2
1. Leaf blade palmately veined at base, pinnately veined over remainder of blade; fruits drupes.
→ 3
2. Flowers bisexual; fruits samaras.
Ulmus
2. Flowers normally unisexual, inflorescences usually with a few bisexual flowers; fruits nutlike.
Planera
3. Leaf blade entire or serrate to ca. 3/4 length; flowers solitary or in few-flowered clusters; drupes 1.
Celtis
3. Leaf blade crenate to serrate for entire length; flowers 12-20, in cymes.
Trema
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3, p. 368. Authors: Susan L. Sherman-Broyles, William T. Barker, Leila M. Schulz.
Parent taxa Ulmaceae > Ulmus
Sibling taxa
U. alata, U. americana, U. glabra, U. parvifolia, U. procera, U. pumila, U. rubra, U. serotina, U. thomasii
Subordinate taxa
Celtis, Planera, Trema, Ulmus
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n.s. 5: 169. (1837) Mirbel
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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