Flower Notes:
Green (Not ornamentally important)
Foliage Notes:
Green (Dark green foliage in summer is loved by insects, especially elm leaf beetle); Yellow (Yellow fall color)
Fruit Notes:
Brown (Wafer-like samaras; not ornamentally important; causes significant litter)
Soil Notes:
Widely adapted to soils, especially useful in dry sites
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Leaves are simple, alternate, 0.75-3" long and 0.3-1" wide, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, only slightly oblique at the base, serrate, petiole tinged dark red. Blackish-brown buds are large globose with hairs along edge of bud scales. Light gray stems are slender with a slight zig-zag pattern. Compared to two native elms, Ulmus pumila has more narrow leaves, larger serrations, and an oblique leaf base not occurring in Ulmus thomasii (Rock Elm). Ulmus rubra (Slippery Elm) leaves are larger with larger teeth and a more oblique leaf base than Ulmus pumila.
