Genus Ulmus, L. (Elm)

Leaves - simple; alternate; edge sharply and doubly toothed. Outline - oval or long egg-shape. Apex - taper-pointed. Base - slightly heart-shaped or rounded. Leaf/Stem - about one eighth inch long, stout and rough. Buds - hairy. Leaf - four to seven inches long, three to four inches wide. The upper surface is rough both ways, and very rough downwards, almost like a fine file. The under surface is slightly rough. Ribs - beneath are prominent and straight, and hairy in their angles. Bark - of the larger branches, brownish; branchlets, light-gray and very rough, becoming grayish-purple. The inner bark is very gummy and “slippery.” Seeds - flat, round, winged, but not fringed. Last of May. Found - along the lower St. Lawrence to Ontario, and from Western New England westward and southward; in woods and along streams. General Information - A tree thirty to forty feet high. Its wood is hard and strong, but splits easily when dry. Though otherwise inferior, for posts it is superior to white elm. Its inner bark is sold by druggists as “slippery elm,” and is nutritious and medicinal. Its name of red elm is due to the reddish-brown tinge of its large rounded and hairy buds in the spring.

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