Trees with furrowed bark; leaves short petioled, with lateral veins
prominent and parallel, oblique or unequally heart-shaped at the base,
taper-pointed at the apex, mostly double-serrate; flowers of Indiana
species expanding before the leaves in March or April; fruit a samara
surrounded with a wide membranous margin, maturing in the spring.
Inner bark mucilaginous; leaves very rough above; flowers
nearly sessile; fruit not ciliate 1 U. fulva.
Inner bark not mucilaginous; leaves smooth or somewhat rough
above; flowers on slender pedicils; fruit ciliate.
Branches without corky wings; sides of samara glabrous 2 U. americana.
Branches (at least some of them) with corky wings; at least
one side of the samara pubescent.
Buds ovate, not twice as long as wide, obtuse, or
short-pointed, dark brown; scales pubescent and
ciliate; leaves usually not twice as long as wide,
base of petiole glabrous beneath; calyx lobes 7-9 3 U. Thomasi.
Buds small, narrow, twice as long as wide, very
sharp-pointed, light brown; scales glabrous or
merely puberulent; leaves usually twice as long
as wide, base of petiole pubescent all around 4 U. alata.
=1. Ulmus fúlva= Michaux. Slippery Elm. Red Elm. Plate 57. Fairly large
trees with deeply fissured reddish-brown bark without white streaks
between the layers of the ridges, twigs very pubescent and green at
first, becoming gray or reddish-brown at the end of the season and
remaining more or less pubescent for a year or more; buds ovate, a very
dark reddish brown, the scales more or less pubescent; leaves ovate,
oval or slightly obovate, average blades 8-15 cm. long, hairy on both
surfaces at first, remaining more or less pubescent beneath until
maturity, and becoming very rough above with a few scattered hairs
remaining, fragrant when dried, fragrance remaining for years; fruit
ripening the last of April or the first of May before or with the
unfolding of the leaves; samara orbicular or obovate, usually longer
than wide, average size 13-17 mm. long and 9-12 mm. wide, the margin as
wide or wider than the seed, margin glabrous, seed densely pubescent on
both sides; wood hard, strong, light when well seasoned and not warping
as badly as white elm.
=Distribution.=--Quebec south to Florida, west to Texas, Nebraska and
North Dakota. Found in all parts of Indiana. In the prairies or in the
"flats" it may be absent in one or more contiguous counties and may be
entirely absent on the crests and upper slopes of ridges. It prefers a
moist well drained soil, and where it is found it is usually a frequent
to a common tree, although rarely is it found as a very common tree. It
is usually associated with sugar maple, beech, white ash, linn, tulip,
white oak, etc.
=Remarks.=--This tree usually is from 3-6 dm. in diameter and tall for
its diameter. However, larger trees occur. In the Ind. Geol. Rept.
6:70:1875 mention is made of a tree in Jackson County that was "18 feet
in circumference." The uses of the wood are similar to that of white
elm. The inner bark collected in spring is much used in medicine under
the name of slippery elm.
[Illustration: Plate 57.