Twigs: Reddish brown, shiny, with peppery smell and taste. Buds covered with greenish white silky hairs; end buds ½″-¾″ long. [Leaf scars] horseshoe shaped.
Fruit: When young, like a small green cucumber. When mature in autumn, 3″-4″ long, a cluster of small red pods, each containing two scarlet seeds; often remains attached all winter. Flowers large (3″ long), greenish yellow, single, upright; appear from April to June.
General: Bark gray-brown to brown, developing long narrow furrows and loose scaly ridges. A medium-sized tree, found mainly in the western half of the State. Wood used mainly for interior finish, furniture and containers.
AMERICAN ELM
(Ulmus americana)
Leaves: Simple, alternate, 4″-6″ long, unequal at the base, rather rough on the upper surface; usually soft-hairy below; veins prominent; margin coarsely toothed. Leaf-stem short.
Twigs: Slender, zigzag, brown, smooth or slightly hairy. Leaf buds ⅛″-¼″ long, flattened. Flower buds larger, below leaf buds. Bud scales red-brown, smooth or [downy]; margins dark.
Fruit: A seed surrounded by an oval, thin papery wing, ½″ long, deeply notched at the tip; ripening in spring and borne in clusters; wing with scattered hairs along margin. Flowers and fruit appear before the leaves, as is true of [slippery elm].
General: Bark dark gray to gray-brown, with long corky ridges; on older trees separated by diamond-shaped fissures. A large and highly prized shade tree. The drooping crown often gives it a vase-shaped appearance. Found locally throughout Pennsylvania, mainly on moist areas. The hard, tough wood has many uses, including the manufacture of boxes, barrels and furniture.
