American Elm
Ulmus americana

This is the native namesake of New Haven ("Elm City") and a popular street tree elsewhere. It is prized for its distinctive vase-shape created by symmetrically forking branches. However, it is now becoming less common as a street tree due to the intrduction of Dutch Elm disease, a fungus which is spread by elm bark beetles.

It is a large tree, reaching 20-30 meters high. The trunk is often buttressed and the root system is shallow. American elm is an aggressive colonizer of open, disturbed areas.

BUDS: Terminal bud absent. Lateral buds in two rows; ovoid; flattened and slightly hairy (though not as pubescent as the similar Slippery elm). Light brown with many dark-edged scales.

TWIGS: Slender and hairless, may be downy; reddish brown; Typically with three depressed bundle scars.

BARK: Light gray; deeply furrowed into broad, forking, scaly ridges; cross section of inner bark like "ham and cheese"--alternating light and dark.

HABITAT: Wide distribution. Wetlands--moist valleys and floodplains; disturbed sites such as old fields and roadsides; and poorly drained deciduous swamps.

RANGE: Southeastern Saskatchewan east to Cape Breton Island, south to central Florida, west to Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.