Ulmus rubra

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Ulmus rubra
Mature Ulmus rubra in graveyard.jpg
Mature cultivated slippery elm (Ulmus rubra)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Ulmaceae
Genus: Ulmus
Subgenus: U. subg. Ulmus
Section: U. sect. Ulmus
Species:
U. rubra
Binomial name
Ulmus rubra
Ulmus rubra range map 3.png
Natural range of Ulmus rubra
Synonyms
  • Ulmus americanaL. var. rubraAiton
  • Ulmus crispa Willd.
  • Ulmus dimidiata Raf.
  • Ulmus ellipticaAnon. [3]
  • Ulmus fulvaMichx., Loudon, Bentley & Trimen, Sarg.
  • Ulmus HeyderiSpäth
  • Ulmus pinguisRaf.
  • Ulmus pubescensWalter

Ulmus rubra, the slippery elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America. Other common names include red elm, gray elm, soft elm, moose elm, and Indian elm.

Contents

Description

Ulmus rubra is a medium-sized deciduous tree with a spreading head of branches, [4] commonly growing to 12–19 metres (39–62 feet), very occasionally over 30 m (98 ft) in height. Its heartwood is reddish-brown. The broad oblong to obovate leaves are 10–20 centimetres (4–8 inches) long, rough above but velvety below, with coarse double-serrate margins, acuminate apices and oblique bases; the petioles are 6–12 millimetres (1⁄4–15⁄32 in) long. [5] The leaves are often tinged red on emergence, turning dark green by summer and a dull yellow in autumn. [6] The perfect, apetalous, wind-pollinated flowers are produced before the leaves in early spring, usually in tight, short-stalked, clusters of 10–20. The reddish-brown fruit is an oval winged samara, orbicular to obovate, slightly notched at the top, 12–18 mm (15⁄32–23⁄32 in) long, the single, central seed coated with red-brown hairs, naked elsewhere. [5]

Similar species

The species superficially resembles American elm (Ulmus americana), but is more closely related to the European wych elm (U. glabra), which has a very similar flower structure, though lacks the pubescence over the seed. [7] U. rubra is chiefly distinguished from American elm by its downy twigs, chestnut brown or reddish hairy buds, and slimy red inner bark.

Taxonomy

The tree was first named as part of Ulmus americana in 1753, [8] but identified as a separate species, U. rubra, in 1793 by Pennsylvania botanist Gotthilf Muhlenberg. The slightly later name U. fulva, published by French botanist André Michaux in 1803, [9] is still widely used in information related to dietary supplements and alternative medicine.

Etymology

The specific epithet rubra (red) alludes to the tree's reddish wood, whilst the common name 'slippery elm' alludes to the mucilaginous inner bark.

The reddish-brown heartwood lends the tree the common name 'red elm'.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to eastern North America, ranging from southeast North Dakota, east to Maine and southern Quebec, south to northernmost Florida, and west to eastern Texas, where it thrives in moist uplands, although it will also grow in dry, intermediate soils. [10]

Ecology

Pests and diseases

The tree is reputedly less susceptible to Dutch elm disease than other species of American elms, [11] but is severely damaged by the elm leaf beetle (Xanthogaleruca luteola). [12] [ unreliable source? ]

Hybrids

In the central United States, native U. rubra hybridizes in the wild with the Siberian elm (U. pumila), [13] [14] which was introduced in the early 20th century and has spread widely since, prompting conservation concerns for the genetic integrity of the former species. [15]

Cultivation

The species has seldom been planted for ornament in its native country. It occasionally appeared in early 20th-century US nursery catalogues. [16] Introduced to Europe and Australasia, it has never thrived in the UK; Elwes & Henry knew of not one good specimen, [7] and the last tree planted at Kew attained a height of only 12 m (39 ft) in 60 years. [5] Specimens supplied by the Späth nursery to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1902 as U. fulva [17] may survive in Edinburgh as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city (vide Wentworth Elm). [18] A specimen at RBGE was felled c.1990. The current list of Living Accessions held in the Garden per se does not list the plant. [19] Several mature trees survive in Brighton (see Accessions). The tree was propagated and marketed in the UK by the Hillier & Sons nursery, Winchester, Hampshire, from 1945, with 20 sold in the period 1970 to 1976, when production ceased. [20] [21]

U. rubra was introduced to Europe in 1830. [8]

There are no known cultivars, though Meehan misnamed Ulmus americana 'Beebe's Weeping' as U. fulva pendula (1889) and Späth misnamed Ulmus americana 'Pendula' U. fulva (Michx.) pendulaHort. (1890). The hybrid U. rubra × U. pumila cultivar 'Lincoln' is sometimes erroneously listed as U. rubra 'Lincoln'.

Hybrid cultivars

U. rubra had limited success as a hybrid parent in the 1960s, resulting in the cultivars 'Coolshade', 'Fremont', 'Improved Coolshade', 'Lincoln', 'Rosehill', and probably 'Willis'. [22] In later years, it was also used in the Wisconsin elm breeding program to produce 'Repura' and 'Revera' [23] although neither is known to have been released to commerce. In Germany, the tree formed part of a complex hybrid raised by the Eisele nursery in Darmstadt, provisionally named 'Eisele H1'; patent pending (2020). [24]

Uses

Cross-sections of moose elm from The American Woods Moose elm sections.jpg
Cross-sections of moose elm from The American Woods

Food

The mucilaginous inner bark of the tree is edible raw or boiled, [25] and was eaten by Native Americans. The bark can also be used to make tea. [26]

Medicinal

The species has various traditional medicinal uses. The inner bark has long been used as a demulcent, and is still produced commercially for this purpose in the United States with approval for sale as an over-the-counter demulcent by the US Food and Drug Administration. [27] Sometimes the leaves are dried and ground into a powder, then made into a tea.

Timber

The timber is not of much importance commercially, and is not found anywhere in great quantity. [7] Macoun considered it more durable than that of the other elms, [28] and better suited for railway ties, fence-posts, and rails, while Pinchot recommended planting it in the Mississippi valley, as it grows fast in youth, and could be utilized for fence-posts when quite young, since the sapwood, if thoroughly dried, is quite as durable as the heartwood. [29] The wood is also used for the hubs of wagon wheels, as it is very shock resistant owing to the interlocking grain. [30] The wood, as 'red elm', is sometimes used to make bows for archery. The yoke of the Liberty Bell, a symbol of the independence of the United States, was made from slippery elm.

Baseball

Though now outmoded, slippery elm tablets were chewed by spitball pitchers to enhance the effectiveness of the saliva applied to make the pitched baseball curve. Gaylord Perry wrote about how he used slippery elm tablets in his 1974 autobiography, Me and the Spitter . [31]

Miscellaneous

The tree's fibrous inner bark produces a strong and durable fiber that can be spun into thread, twine, or rope [30] useful for bowstrings, ropes, jewellery, clothing, snowshoe bindings, woven mats, and even some musical instruments.[ citation needed ] Once cured, the wood is also excellent for starting fires with the bow-drill method, as it grinds into a very fine flammable powder under friction.[ citation needed ]

Culture

Notable trees

A tree in Westmount, Quebec, Canada, measured 4.27 m (14 ft) in girth in 2011. [32] [33] The US national champion, measuring 7.16 m (23+1⁄2 ft) in circumference and 27.4 metres (90 ft) tall, with an average crown spread of 25.18 metres (82+1⁄2 ft) wide, grows in Kentucky. [34] Another tall specimen grows in the Bronx, New York City, at 710 West 246th Street, measuring 31 m (102 ft) high in 2002. [35] In the UK, there is no designated Tree Register champion.

Accessions

North America

Europe

Australasia

Related Research Articles

<i>Ulmus thomasii</i> Species of tree

Ulmus thomasii, the rock elm or cork elm, is a deciduous tree native primarily to the Midwestern United States. The tree ranges from southern Ontario and Quebec, south to Tennessee, west to northeastern Kansas, and north to Minnesota.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Species of tree

Ulmus pumila, the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes miscalled the 'Chinese elm'. U. pumila has been widely cultivated throughout Asia, North America, Argentina, and southern Europe, becoming naturalized in many places, notably across much of the United States.

<i>Ulmus davidiana <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> japonica</i> Variety of tree

Ulmus davidiana var. japonica, the Japanese elm, is one of the larger and more graceful Asiatic elms, endemic to much of continental northeast Asia and Japan, where it grows in swamp forest on young alluvial soils, although much of this habitat has now been lost to intensive rice cultivation.

<i>Ulmus castaneifolia</i> Species of tree

Ulmus castaneifoliaHemsley, the chestnut-leafed elm or multinerved elm, is a small deciduous tree found across much of China in broadleaved forests at elevations of 500–1,600 metres (1,600–5,200 ft).

<i>Ulmus laciniata</i> Species of tree

Ulmus laciniata(Trautv.) Mayr, known variously as the Manchurian, cut-leaf, or lobed elm, is a deciduous tree native to the humid ravine forests of Japan, Korea, northern China, eastern Siberia and Sakhalin, growing alongside Cercidiphyllum japonicum, Aesculus turbinata, and Pterocarya rhoifolia, at elevations of 700–2200 m, though sometimes lower in more northern latitudes, notably in Hokkaido.

<i>Ulmus macrocarpa</i> Species of tree

Ulmus macrocarpaHance, the large-fruited elm, is a deciduous tree or large shrub endemic to the Far East excluding Japan. It is notable for its tolerance of drought and extreme cold and is the predominant vegetation on the dunes of the Khorchin sandy lands in the Jilin province of north-eastern China, making a small tree at the base of the dunes, and a shrub at the top.

<i>Ulmus chenmoui</i> Species of tree

Ulmus chenmouiW. C. Cheng, commonly known as the Chenmou, or Langya Mountain elm, is a small deciduous tree from the more temperate provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu in eastern China, where it is found at elevations below 200 m on the Langya Shan and Baohua Shan mountains. The tree was unknown in the West until 1979, when seeds were sent from Beijing to the De Dorschkamp research institute at Wageningen in the Netherlands.

<i>Ulmus davidiana</i> Species of tree

Ulmus davidiana, also known as the David elm, or Father David elm, is a small deciduous tree widely distributed across China, Mongolia, Korea, Siberia, and Japan, where it is found in wetlands along streams at elevations of 2000–2300 m (6,500–7,500 ft). The tree was first described in 1873 from the hills north of Beijing, China.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Belgica Elm cultivar

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Belgica', one of a number of hybrids arising from the crossing of Wych Elm with a variety of Field Elm, was reputedly raised in the nurseries of the Abbey of the Dunes, Veurne, in 1694. Popular throughout Belgium and the Netherlands in the 19th century both as an ornamental and as a shelter-belt tree, it was the 'Hollandse iep' in these countries, as distinct from the tree known as 'Dutch Elm' in Great Britain and Ireland since the 17th century: Ulmus × hollandica 'Major'. In Francophone Belgium it was known as orme gras de Malines.

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × intermedia 'Coolshade' is an American hybrid cultivar cloned from a crossing of the Slippery, or Red, Elm Ulmus rubra and the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila at the Sarcoxie Nurseries, Sarcoxie, Missouri, in 1946. At Arnold Arboretum, where there was a specimen, herbarium material was labelled Ulmus pumila 'Coolshade'.

The Siberian elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Green King' was once believed to have been derived from a crossing of the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila with the American Red Elm Ulmus rubra. However, it is now apparent the tree originated as a sport of U. pumila in 1939 at the Neosho Nurseries, Neosho, Missouri.

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus 'Hamburg' was originally raised by the Plumfield Nurseries, Fremont, Nebraska, circa 1932, after its discovery by Mr. Lloyd Moffet in a bed of Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila seedlings from Tekamah. It was later marketed by Interstate Nurseries, Hamburg, Iowa, from 1948, as 'Interstate's New Hamburg Hybrid Elm'. Green stated that it was originally said be a hybrid of Ulmus pumila and Ulmus americana, but the Hamburg Nurseries of Iowa made no such claim for it in their catalogues from 1948 onwards. It is now considered more likely that Ulmus rubra was the male parent, as it was also known as 'Hybrid Chinese Elm', and therefore probably synonymous with Plumfield Nurseries' 'Hybrid elm' of the same date, a known crossing of U. pumila and U. rubra, – and so, perhaps, also synonymous with Ulmus × intermedia 'Fremont', an elm of the same parentage found a little later in Plumfield Nurseries.

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × intermedia 'Rosehill' is an American hybrid cultivar originally raised by the Rose Hill Nurseries of Kansas City, Missouri, as Ulmus 'Rose Hill', without species names, from a selection of Ulmus pumila × Ulmus rubra seedlings made in 1951.

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Pendula Elm cultivar

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Pendula' was originally listed by William Aiton in Hort. Kew, 1: 320, 1789, as U. americana var. pendula, cloned in England in 1752 by James Gordon. From the 1880s the Späth nursery of Berlin supplied a cultivar at first listed as Ulmus fulva (Michx.) pendulaHort., which in their 1899 catalogue was queried as a possible variety of U. americana, and which thereafter appeared in their early 20th-century catalogues as U. americana pendula. The Scampston Elm, Ulmus × hollandica 'Scampstoniensis', in cultivation on both sides of the Atlantic in the 19th and 20th centuries, was occasionally referred to as 'American Weeping Elm' or Ulmus americana pendula. This cultivar, however, was distinguished by Späth from his Ulmus americana pendula.

<i>Ulmus</i> Androssowii Elm cultivar

The hybrid cultivar Ulmus 'Androssowii'R. Kam., an elm of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan sometimes referred to in old travel books as 'Turkestan Elm' or as 'karagach' [:black tree, = elm], its local name, is probably an artificial hybrid. According to Lozina-Lozinskaia the tree is unknown in the wild in Uzbekistan, and apparently arose from a crossing of U. densa var. bubyrianaLitv., which it resembles, and the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila. It is sometimes listed as Ulmus × androssowii.

<i>Ulmus</i> Jacqueline Hillier Elm cultivar

The 'dwarf' elm cultivar Ulmus 'Jacqueline Hillier' ('JH') is an elm of uncertain origin. It was cloned from a specimen found in a private garden in Selly Park, Birmingham, England, in 1966. The garden's owner told Hillier that it might have been introduced from outside the country by a relative. Hillier at first conjectured U. minor, as did Heybroek (2009). Identical-looking elm cultivars in Russia are labelled forms of Siberian Elm, Ulmus pumila, which is known to produce 'JH'-type long shoots. Melville considered 'JH' a hybrid cultivar from the 'Elegantissima' group of Ulmus × hollandica. Uncertainty about its parentage has led most nurserymen to list the tree simply as Ulmus 'Jacqueline Hillier'. 'JH' is not known to produce flowers and samarae, or root suckers.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Pinnato-ramosa Elm cultivar

The Siberian elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Pinnato-ramosa' was raised by Georg Dieck, as Ulmus pinnato-ramosa, at the National Arboretum, Zöschen, Germany, from seed collected for him circa 1890 in the Ili valley, Turkestan by the lawyer and amateur naturalist Vladislav E. Niedzwiecki while in exile there. Litvinov (1908) treated it as a variety of Siberian elm, U. pumilavar.arborea but this taxon was ultimately rejected by Green, who sank the tree as a cultivar: "in modern terms, it does not warrant recognition at this rank but is a variant of U. pumila maintained and known only in cultivation, and therefore best treated as a cultivar". Herbarium specimens confirm that trees in cultivation in the 20th century as U. pumilaL. var. arboreaLitv. were no different from 'Pinnato-ramosa'.

Ulmus ellipticaKoch is a disputed species of elm, native to the Caucasus, where Koch reported that it formed extensive woods, and ranging north to southern Ukraine. The tree reminded Koch of the elm then called Ulmus majorSmith, except in its samara. Others thought it closely related to U. glabra, but to resemble U. rubra in its samara. Many authorities consider U. ellipticaKoch just a regional form of U. glabra, though Henry, Bean and Krüssman list the Caucasus tree as a species in its own right. U. ellipticaKoch is likewise distinguished from U. scabraMill. [:U. glabraHuds.] in some Armenian and Russian plant lists.

<i>Ulmus parvifolia</i> Species of tree

Ulmus parvifolia, commonly known as the Chinese elm or lacebark elm, is a species native to eastern Asia, including China, India, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. It has been described as "one of the most splendid elms, having the poise of a graceful Nothofagus".

References

  1. ↑ Stritch, L. (2018). "Ulmus rubra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T61967382A61967384. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T61967382A61967384.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Ulmus rubra". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2008-03-14.
  3. ↑ Plantago, Plant Index: Ulmus rubra
  4. ↑ Hillier & Sons. (1990). Hillier's Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 5th ed.. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, UK
  5. 1 2 3 Bean, W. J. (1970). Trees & Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, 8th ed., p. 656. (2nd impression 1976) John Murray, London. ISBN   9780719517907
  6. ↑ Missouri Botanical Garden, Ulmus rubra
  7. 1 2 3 Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland . Vol. VII. 1862-4 (as U. fulva). Republished 2004 Cambridge University Press, ISBN   9781108069380
  8. 1 2 J., White; D., More (2003). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. Cassell, London. ISBN   0-304-36192-5.
  9. ↑ Michaux, A. (1803). Flora Boreali-Americana ("The Flora of North America")
  10. ↑ Cooley, John H.; Van Sambeek, J. W. (1990). "Ulmus rubra". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Hardwoods. Silvics of North America. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Vol. 2 – via Southern Research Station.
  11. ↑ "Ulmus rubra". Illinois State Museum.
  12. ↑ "Elm Leaf Beetle Survey". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  13. ↑ Zalapa, J. E.; Brunet, J.; Guries, R. P. (2008). "Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for red elm (Ulmus rubra Muhl.) and cross-species amplification with Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila L.)". Molecular Ecology Resources. 8 (1): 109–12. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01805.x. PMID   21585729. S2CID   7294817.
  14. ↑ Elowsky, C. G., Jordon-Thaden, I. E., & Kaul, R. B. (2013). A morphological analysis of a hybrid swarm of native Ulmus rubra and introduced U. pumila (Ulmaceae) in southern Nebraska. Phytoneuron 2013–44: 1–23. ISSN   2153-733X.
  15. ↑ 'Conservation status of red elm (Ulmus rubra) in the north-central United States', elm2013.ipp.cnr.it/downloads/book_of_abstracts.pdf. Cached pp. 33–35
  16. ↑ Frederick W. Kelsey, Descriptive catalogue, no. 55, N.Y., 1906
  17. ↑ "Herbarium specimen - E00824848". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Sheet described as U. fulva; "Herbarium specimen - E00824847". Herbarium Catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Sheet described as U. fulva, RBGE specimen from Späth nursery 1902
  18. ↑ Accessions book. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 1902. pp. 45, 47.
  19. ↑ "List of Living Accessions: Ulmus". Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  20. ↑ Hillier & Sons (1977). Catalogue of Trees & Shrubs. Hillier, Ampfield, UK.
  21. ↑ Hillier & Sons Sales inventory 1962 to 1977 (unpublished).
  22. ↑ Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 24 (6–8): 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  23. ↑ Santamour, Frank S; Susan E Bentz (May 1995). "Updated checklist of elm (Ulmus) cultivars for use in North America". Journal of Arboriculture. 21 (3): 122–131.
  24. ↑ Brookes, Andrew (2020). "Disease resistant elm cultivars" (PDF). Hampshire & Isle of Wight Branch Butterfly Conservation.
  25. ↑ Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 424. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.
  26. ↑ Angier, Bradford (1974). Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books. p. 206. ISBN   0-8117-0616-8. OCLC   799792.
  27. ↑ Braun, Lesley; Cohen, Marc (2006). Herbs and Natural Supplements: An Evidence-Based Guide (2nd ed.). Churchill Livingstone. p. 586. ISBN   978-0-7295-3796-4., quote:
    Although Slippery Elm has not been scientifically investigated, the FDA has approved it as a safe demulcent substance.
  28. ↑ Macoun, J. M. (1900). The Forest Wealth of Canada, p. 24. Canadian Commission for the Paris International Exhibition 1900.
  29. ↑ Pinchot, G. (1907). U S Forest Circular, no.85.
  30. 1 2 Werthner, William B. (1935). Some American Trees: An intimate study of native Ohio trees. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. xviii + 398.
  31. ↑ Anderson, Dave (August 9, 1973). "Gaylord Perry's Confession". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  32. ↑ Ulmus rubra, Cedar Crescent, Westmount, Quebec
  33. ↑ 'L'Orme Rouge ou l'Indian Elm de la rue Cedar Crescent'
  34. ↑ "Slippery Elm – KY". American Forests . Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  35. ↑ Barnard, E. S. (2002) New York City Trees. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   0-231-12835-5
  36. ↑ "List of plants in the {elm} collection". Brighton & Hove City Council. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
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