Part 28 (1/2)

GENUS =74. uLMUS.=

Tall umbrella-shaped trees with watery juice and alternate, 2-ranked, simple, deciduous, obliquely ovate to obliquely heart-shaped, strongly straight-veined, serrate leaves, harsh to the touch, often rough.

Flowers insignificant, appearing before the leaves. Fruit a flattened, round-winged samara; ripe in the spring and dropping early from the trees. Bark rough with longitudinal ridges.

* Leaves very rough on the upper side. (=A.=)

=A.= Leaves 4 to 8 in. long; buds rusty-downy; inner bark very mucilaginous 1.

=A.= Leaves smaller; buds not downy; cultivated. (=B.=)

=B.= Wide-spreading tree; twigs drooping; fruit slightly notched 2.

=B.= Tree rather pyramidal; twigs not usually drooping; fruit deeply notched 3.

* Leaves not very rough on the upper side. (=C.=)

=C.= Buds and branchlets p.u.b.escent; twigs often with corky ridges 4.

=C.= Buds and branchlets free from hairs, or very nearly so.

(=D.=)

=D.= Twigs with corky wings 5.

=D.= Twigs often with corky ridges; cultivated 2, 3.

=D.= Branchlets never corky 6.

[Ill.u.s.tration: U. fulva.]

1. =ulmus fulva=, Michx. (SLIPPERY OR RED ELM.) Leaves large, 4 to 8 in., very rough above, ovate-oblong, taper-pointed, doubly serrate, soft-downy beneath; branchlets downy; inner bark very mucilaginous; leaves sweet-scented in drying; buds in spring soft and downy with rusty hairs. Fruit with a shallow notch in the wing not nearly reaching the rounded nut. A medium-sized tree, 45 to 60 ft. high, with tough and very durable reddish wood; wild in rich soils throughout.

[Ill.u.s.tration: U. montana.]

2. =ulmus montana=, Bauh. (SCOTCH OR WITCH ELM.) Leaves broad, obovate, abruptly pointed and doubly serrated. Fruit rounded, with a slightly notched wing, naked. Branches drooping at their extremity, their bark smooth and even. A medium-sized tree, 50 to 60 ft. high, with spreading or often drooping branches; extensively cultivated under a dozen different names, among the most peculiar being the White-margined (var.

_alba marginata_), the Crisped-leaved (var. _crispa_), and the Weeping (var. _pendula_) Elms.

[Ill.u.s.tration: U. campestris.]

3. =ulmus campestris=, L. (ENGLISH OR FIELD ELM.) Leaves much smaller and of a darker color than the American Elm, obovate-oblong, abruptly sharp-pointed, doubly serrated, rough. Fruit smooth, with the wing deeply notched. A tall and beautiful cultivated tree, with the branches growing out from the trunk more abruptly than those of the American Elm, and thus forming a more pyramidal tree. A score of named varieties are in cultivation in this country, some with very corky bark, others with curled leaves, and still others with weeping branches.

[Ill.u.s.tration: U. racemsa.]

4. =ulmus racemsa=, Thomas. (CORK OR ROCK ELM.) Leaves 2 to 4 in. long, obovate-oblong, abruptly pointed, often doubly serrated, with very straight veins; twigs and bud-scales downy-ciliate; branches often with corky ridges. Fruit large ( in. or more long), with a deep notch; hairy. A large tree with fine-grained, heavy and very tough wood.

Southwest Vermont, west and south, southwestward to Missouri, on river-banks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: U. alata.]

5. =ulmus alata=, Michx. (WAHOO OR WINGED ELM.) Leaves small, 1 to 2 in.