Trees Planet: Ulmus glabra

General Information

Common Name	Wych Elm
Scientific Name	*Ulmus glabra*
Sun Tolerance	Full Sun
Height	up to 40 m (up to 130 ft)
Spread	up to 20 m (up to 63 ft)
Growth Rate	Fast
Bloom Time	Spring
Color	Green,
Flower Color	Pink
Type	Tree
Native	Asia, Europe, USA

Classification

Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta - Flowering Plants
Class	Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass	Hamamelididae
Order	Urticales
Family	Ulmaceae – Elm family
Genus	Ulmus L. – Elm
Species	U. glabra

Ulmus glabra – Wych Elm

Ulmus glabra commonly known as Wych Elm also known as ScotsElm is native to Europe and North America. It grows up to 40 m (130 ft) in height.

It is quite a different tree from the English Elm found in hedgerows, being at home in the woods, though seldom if ever cultivated by foresters, and has a dome-like crown built around a forked trunk, with branches spreading and often pendulous towards their ends. Unlike English Elm, neither corky shoots nor suckers are normally present, and reproduction is by seed.

The brownish-grey twigs are stouter than those of the English Elm, and the young shoots grow practically at right angles to the branches. At first they are thickly covered by short hairs, but by their third year are smooth – hence the epithet glabra. The winter buds are chocolate brown, sharply pointed, with hairy scales. The leaves are larger than those of the English Elm, and have a shorter stalk. They are uneven at the base (asymmetrical), so that one side usually forms an ‘ear’ overlapping the stalk. The margins are sharply serrated and the blade broadens towards the tip, and then suddenly narrows, the apex being drawn to a point. The upper surface is rough to the touch because of minute but harsh hairs.

The clusters of bi-sexual precocious flowers are purplish-crimson, and in mass give a reddish tinge to the whole crown when they appear on the leafless twigs during late February of March. The green transparent winged seeds (samaras) are somewhat larger than those of the English Elm. They are fully formed in about three weeks (again before the leaves) and ripen by May or early June. They cling festooned when they turn brown and then fall.

On young trees the bark is smooth and green. On older trees it is brown, thick and rough in more continuous ridges, more deeply furrowed than that of the English Elm and much more coarsely networked. The word ‘wych’ means supply, and the pliable strength of the wood has led to its use in boat and carriage-building, as shafts and tool handles, as well as for furniture.