White Elm

• Name also

  European white elm

• Growing form and height

  Tree. 15–20 m (50–70 feet). Sprouting from roots.

• Flower

  Small, regular (actinomorphic), long-stalked. Perianth undifferentiated, brownish, fused, 4–5-lobed. Stamens 4–5, occasionally 8–10. Anthers purple. Pistil formed from two fused carpels. Inflorescence a lax raceme.

• Leaves

  Alternate, short-stalked. Blade 7–15 cm (2.8–6 in.), ovate–oval–obovate, tapering to a long tip, leaf margin usually doubly serrated, occasionally only serrated (f. simplicidens), base very asymmetrical. Glossy and shiny on top, underside soft-haired also between veins. Vein pairs 12–16, veins usually unbranched from tip.

• Buds

  Reddish brown, dark-tipped, tapered, flower buds rounder.

• Fruit

  Long-stalked (7–35 mm (0.28–1.4 in.)), light brown, widely winged (a samaroid), roundish (10–12 × 8–9 mm (0.32–0.36 in.) achene. Wing with ciliate edges, seed slightly closer to base.

• Habitat

  Damp broad-leaved forests, lake shores. Also ornamental. Likes chalky ground.

• Flowering time

  May. Flowers before coming into leaf.

• Endangerment

  Endangered, protected in the whole of Finland.

Two elm species grow ferally in Finland. The rarer of these, white elm, is a demanding plant that grows in lakeside groves, sometimes also on stream banks and in coastal areas.

Elms flower before their leaves appear. The best way to tell them apart from other Finnish leaf trees is the relative asymmetry of its leaves. The flowers are small, bisexual, develop stamens early, and are wind-pollinated from a distance. White elm can also be told apart from wych elm by e.g. its horizontal branching (wych elm branches are ascending oblique) and its wider, domed crown (wych elm’s is more funnel-shaped). White elm buds are narrower than wych elm’s, the inflorescence is sparser with longer stalks, and the fruit is clearly smaller.