Smooth-leaved elm

One of the closely related 'field elms' the smooth leaved elm has been much reduced by Dutch elm disease. Although because it can reproduce by seed some saplings are showing resistance to the disease.

What other names does it have?

Can also be known as	Field elm
Generic name	Elm
Latin name	Ulmus minor var. minor
Family name	Elm
Latin family name	Ulmaceae

What type of tree is it?

Is it a broadleaf or conifer?	It is a broadleaf
Does it lose its leaves in autumn?	Yes, it is deciduous

Species description:

Average height	16-30m

Leaf

Description	The flat leaves are glossy and smooth but leathery to the touch. They are distinctly double toothed/serrated (the teeth have teeth). In shape elm leaves have characteristically asymetrical bases and at the other end taper to a sudden point
Shape	Oval
Size	6-15cm
Colour	Green
Leaf bud	Slender and downy buds
Leaf stalk	Short stalk
Leaf arrangement	Alternate

Flower, seed, and fruit

Type of flower	Clustered/grouped flowers
Flower size	Around 2cm long
Flowering season	Early spring
Fruit season	Spring
Type of seed body	Small winged seed
Seeds dispersed by	Wind

Bark and twig

Bark description	Grey-brown in colour. Sometimes with criss-cross ridges
Twig Description	Brown in colour and twigs occasionally have corky 'wings' or ridges

What other trees are similar?

Can easily be confused with?	Other closely related elms Hornbeam- which does not have asymetrical bases to the leaves

Where is it usually found?

Is it native or non-native to the British Isles?	Native
Where is its natural range?	The origin of this species is debated, with many authors describing it as non-native to Britain. It is found in continental Europe and Southern England
Preferred soil type or environmental conditions?	Tolerates a wide range of environmental conditions
What is its British conservation status?	Rare

Additional information

Human uses of tree and timber

Uses of elm are primarily for the wood. It has great strength, durability, a tight-twisted grain and is resistant to water. Uses include: boat building (keels, rudders and trawler boards) furniture, wheel hubs, wooden water pipes, floorboards, coffins and in decorative turning. In fact before metal was widely available many English towns had elm water mains, including Bristol, Reading, Exeter, Southampton, Hull and Liverpool. Some of these old water mains still survive and are occasionally dug up during building works. The foliage was also used for feeding and bedding domestic livestock.

Tree lore and folklore

Elms used to be associated with melancholy and death, perhaps this is because they can drop old branches without warning (to the danger of those underneath) or perhaps because elm was the dominant wood for coffins. There is much in literature celebrating and describing the elm, as they were a very key and obvious part of the landscape, but little more folklore. In some counties or towns there are overtures to fertility and relationships to different christian festivals when people would gather under a particular elm for to sing psalms. In Lichfield, it was the custom to carry elm twigs in a procession around the Cathedral Close on Ascension Day, then to throw them in the font.

Smooth-leaved Elm

Smooth-leaved Elm leaves

Illustrations supplied by
Collins

BritishTrees