Ulmus pumila
Ulmus procera
Asiatic elm, dwarf elm, Siberian elm
English cork elm, English elm, field elm
gray to brown, deeply furrowed with interlacing ridges.
grayish brown, deeply ridged, flaking.
not winged;
twigs gray-brown, pubescent.
old-growth branchlets with corky ridges;
twigs reddish brown, villous to scabrous, old-growth branchlets with corky ridges.
dark brown, ovoid, glabrous;
scales light brown, shiny, glabrous to slightly pubescent.
ovoid;
scales dark brown, sparsely pubescent, marginally pale-ciliate.
blade narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 2-6.5 × 2-3.5 cm, base generally not oblique, margins singly serrate, apex acute;
surfaces abaxially with some pubescence in axils of veins, adaxially glabrous;
lateral veins forking to 3 times per side.
blade broadly lanceolate-elliptic to ovate, (3-)7-10 × (3-)4-6(-10) cm, base strongly oblique, not covering petiole, margins doubly serrate, apex acute to acuminate;
surfaces abaxially villous with woolly tufts in vein axils, pale in contrast to adaxial surface, adaxially dark green, glabrous to sparsely scabrous, margins not ciliate.
tightly clustered fascicles, 6-15-flowered, 0.5 cm, flowers and fruits not pendulous, sessile.
dense clusters of subsessile flowers borne on lateral shoots resembling short racemes, flowers and fruits not pendulous.
calyx shallowly lobed, lobes 4-5, glabrous;
stamens 4-8;
anthers brownish red;
stigmas green, lobes exserted.
calyx green to reddish purple or tan, shallowly lobed, lobes 5-8, marginally villous;
stamens 3-5(-6);
anthers dark brown, globose;
stigmas white, puberulous, persistent in fruit, slender lobes incurved.
thickened, not inflated.
thickened, not inflated.
brittle.
hard.
yellow-cream, orbiculate, 10-14 mm diam., broadly winged, glabrous, tip notched 1/3-1/2 its length.
light brown, darker brown to red in area covering seed, orbiculate, about as long as broad, 0.9-1.8 × 0.9-1.6 cm, broadly winged, glabrous except for pubescence along margin of apex, apex shallowly notched.
= 28.
= 28.
Ulmus pumila
Ulmus procera
Ulmus pumila probably occurs in Vermont and West Virginia, but it has not been documented for those states.
Planted for quick-growing windbreaks, Ulmus pumila has weak wood, and its branches break easily in mature trees. It is easily distinguished from other North American elms by its singly serrate leaf margins. Ulmus pumila is similar to U. parvifolia Jacquin with its small, singly serrate leaves. Ulmus parvifolia, however, has smooth bark that sheds from tan to orange, and it flowers and sets fruit in the fall.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
In the absence of carefully documented naturalized populations, the North American distribution of Ulmus procera is very poorly known. It is locally established in British Columbia, Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, and Michigan. It has been reported from Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Off-shoots from the root systems are often found close to planted trees, forming dense clones, especially in and around urban centers.
Some authors have combined Ulmus minor Miller and U. procera Salisbury. This treatment follows that of Tutin and colleagues (T. G. Tutin et al. 1964-1980, vol. 1, pp. 65-66), in which the species were regarded as separate. Reports of Ulmus minor Miller, in the strict sense, in North America are not confirmed. Hybrids of Ulmus procera and U. glabra are reported from New York (R. S. Mitchell 1988) and may be spreading. Both U. procera and U. glabra are involved in the parentage of Dutch elm, Ulmus ×hollandica Pallas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
