FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Scaly bark and asymmetrical leaf base of American elm are distinctive.
Synonym(s): Ulmus floridana
Description: Medium to large deciduous tree, to 35 m. Crown broad and spreading, with a characteristic vase-like pattern of branching, unless found in dense forest stands, where tree exhibits a narrow crown.
Leaves: Alternate, doubly serrated oval leaves with distinctly asymmetrical leaf base (as in all elms). Leaves rough in one direction above, less so beneath. Average size about 8 cm long, 5 cm wide, but highly variable. Bark ridged and scaly.
Flowers/Fruit: Fruit small, flattened clusters of fuzzy, oval samaras, about 1 cm long. Samaras are green, with red base, and white fuzz. Flowers February/March; fruits March/April.
Habit and Range: Most common in bottomland floodplains adjacent to brownwater streams, rich wet or upland woodlands throughout North Carolina.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Ulmus americana (American elm) leaves are smaller and not as rough as U. rubra (slippery elm), but larger and hairier than U. alata (winged elm), which has distinct wings on branches. Upper leaf surface in the U. americana is smoother than other similar elms. Leaves of U. americana can be confused with Betula spp. (birches) which have more triangular-shaped leaves and Carpinus caroliniana (ironwood) which has symmetrical leaf bases, unlike elms.
Click here to view Betula nigra.
Click here to view Carpinus caroliniana.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
