SLIPPERY ELM
Ulmus fulva, Michx.
Form.—Height 40-80 feet, diameter 1-2½ feet; trunk usually short and soon branching; crown open and broad.
Leaves.—Alternate, simple, 5-7 inches long, ovate-oblong, oblique at base, abruptly sharp-pointed apex, margin doubly serrate, rough-hairy on both sides.
Flowers.—April, before the leaves; mostly perfect; on short pedicels in crowded branches; corolla absent, calyx green, anthers red, two stigmas purple.
Fruit.—Matures in spring a few weeks after the flowers; a one-seeded samara consisting of a small flat seed surrounded by a wing which is nearly circular in outline and smooth, except over the seed cavity.
Bark.—Thick, divided by fissures and with large, thick appressed scales, brown tinged with red within, inner bark fragrant, mucilaginous and slippery.
Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, reddish-brown, with thin sapwood.
Range.—Southeastern Canada to Florida, west to North Dakota and Texas.
Distribution in West Virginia.—Common locally, rare in many sections. Found in the following counties: Barbour, Braxton, Clay, Fayette, Grant, Mingo, Monongalia, Pocahontas, Putnam, Roane, Tyler, Upshur and Wetzel.
Habitat.—Fertile, rocky soil.
Notes.—The slippery, inner bark, the smooth-margined fruits and the rusty-brown, orbicular, pubescent buds distinguish this from other elms. It is not an important tree for forest planting. It is sometimes called Red Elm.