Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

SIBERIAN ELM

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Ulmus pumila L.

Riley County, Kansas

Height: Trees, to 88 feet

Family: Ulmaceae - Elm Family

Flowering Period: March

Trunks:

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.

Habitat:

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

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas

Origin:

Naturalized

Comments:

Ulmus pumila is native to northern Asia and was introduced to North America in 1905. It was promoted for use in shelterbelts across the Great Plains because of its ability to withstand drought and cold. In Kansas, flowering occurs in February and March.

Siberian elm habit