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The slippery elm is found in certain localities throughout the Atlantic States, it is not common in Eastern Massachusetts.
Cork or Rock Elm Ulmus racemosa
A large tree, 80 to 100 feet high, known by the peculiar corky ridges along the branches. Alternate leaf-scars. The recent twigs and the scales of the bud are fringed with downy hair.
In New England the cork elm is found in the northwestern part of New Hampshire and in Southern Vermont. It is rare in Massachusetts, and would probably be found only in the western part of the State growing wild. Neither Michaux nor Emerson has described the cork elm. Nuttall says that it was discovered in the State of New York by a Mr. Thomas, and he gives the tree the name “Thomas’s elm,” which has fortunately not been retained.
The wood is tougher and of somewhat finer grain than that of the white elm, and in the “Silva of North America,” Professor Sargent says: “The value of the wood of the rock elm threatens its extinction; and most of the large trees have already been cut in the forests of Canada, New England, New York, and Michigan. The rock elm is sometimes planted as a shade tree in the region which it inhabits naturally, and although it grows rather more slowly than the white elm, it is a handsome and distinct ornamental tree which planters have too generally neglected.”
The specific name, racemosa (cluster-flowered), refers to the flowers which grow in a raceme.
It is found in New England, its range extending southward and westward.
English Elm Ulmus campestris
A tall tree, more upright in growth than the American elm. The branches are less spreading and more erect than those of the American species. In this climate it is often distinguished by the little tufts of dead twigs on the tree. The bark is darker and coarser than that of the American elm; the buds and twigs differ very little from those of our species.