Red elm

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Red elm bark

Red elm flowers

Red elm leaves

Red elm

Red elm flowers

Red elm fruit

Red elm fruit

Red elm bud and leaf scar

Red elm buds

Red elm bark

Red elm buds

Morphology

Trunk

1-2 feet diameter, bark gray-brown, shallowly fissured, long, flat, often loose plates; inner bark mucilaginous. Crown broad, open; branches spreading.

Twigs

Gray or brown, pubescent; leaf scars half-round, bundle scars in three groups; leaf buds reddish-brown, narrowly ovoid, obtuse, slightly hairy; flower buds broadly ovoid, 1/6 to 1/5 inch, densely pubescent with reddish-brown hairs.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, deciduous; petiole 1/6 to 2/5 inch, pubescent; blade oval to ovate or obovate, 4 to 6.4 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide base strongly asymmetric, oblique, rounded on one side, margins coarsely double serrate in distal 1/2 to 3/4, singly serrate proximally, tip acute to acuminate, upper surface dark yellowish-green, harshly scabrous, lower surface paler, pubescent.

Flowers

Before the leaves; borne in crowded clusters of 8 to 20 flowers; pedicels less than 1/12 inch; calyx bell-shaped, 1/10 to 1/6 inch, pubescent with reddish-brown hairs; calyx lobes 5-9, green to reddish, tips rounded; corolla absent; stamens 5-8; filaments whitish, 4-5 mm; anthers dark red; ovary green, egg-shaped, flattened, pubescent; stigmas 2, reddish, pubescent, exserted.

Fruit

Late April or early May; dense clusters of 3-10 samaras; pedicels 1/12 to 1/6 inch; samaras nearly circular to obovate, 1/2 to 3/4 inch, one seeded with broad wing, slightly notched at apex with the wing points rounded and overlapping, margins glabrous; seed body ovoid, flattened, reddish-brown tomentose.

Ecology

Habitat

Stream banks, pond margins, bottom lands, roadsides, disturbed areas; often in rich, moist soil, occasionally on rocky slopes.

Distribution

East half and north 1/3 of west half

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans used a poultice of inner bark to treat wounds and burns, took a decoction of inner bark as a laxative, and chewed the inner bark for sore throats. Several plains tribes also used the inner bark fibers to make cords.

Additional Notes