Siberian elm

Images

Click on image to view full size

Siberian elm bark

Siberian elm fruit

Siberian elm leaf

Siberian elm buds

Siberian elm fruit

Siberian elm

Siberian elm habit

Siberian elm fruit

Morphology

Trunk

Trunk erect; bark gray, fissures shallow, ridges long, flat; wood reddish brown, hard.

Twigs

Grayish brown, glabrous or nearly so, flexible; leaf scars half-round; buds reddish brown, ovoid, .08 to .12 inch, scales glabrous, margins ciliate.

Leaves

Deciduous, alternate, simple; stipules caducous, lanceolate, .08 to .35 inch; petiole .2 to .3 inch, pubescent; blade ovate to elliptic, (1-)1.6 to 3 inches long, (.6-).8 to 1.26 inch wide, base obliquely to evenly rounded, margins 1-2-serrate, apex acuminate, lower surface light green, glabrous, upper surface dark green, glabrous.

Flowers

Inflorescences axillary on branches of previous year; fascicles, 6-15-flowered; peduncles absent; pedicels .02 to .04 inch, more or less equal, glabrous. Flowers bisexual, radially symmetric; sepals 4-5, connate, calyx tube reddish brown, bell-shaped, .03 to .04 inch, glabrous; petals absent; stamens 3-5, .12 to .16 inch; pistil 1; styles 2, distinct; stigmas 2.

Fruit

March-April; samaras, tan to yellowish brown, obovate to round, flat, .5 to .8 inch long, .35 to .6 inch wide, surfaces glabrous, margins glabrous, apex notched, tips overlapping; seed 1, yellowish brown to brown, compressed-ovoid, .16 to .2 inch long, .14 to .16 inch wide, smooth.

Ecology

Habitat

Forests and woodlands, woodlots, thickets, pastures, disturbed sites, urban greenspaces.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas

Additional Notes