Eastern Forest Threat Center - Siberian Elm

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Siberian elm foliage

Siberian elm foliage

USDA NRCS Archive, Bugwood.org

Siberian Elm
Ulmus pumila

Siberian elm, native to northern China, eastern Siberia, Manchuria, and Korea, is the hardiest of all elms.

Keywords: Ulmaceae, deciduous, tree, fast-growing, round crown, toothed leaves, small green flowers, flattened fruit; Common names: dwarf elm, littleleaf elm

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Threat Description

Siberian elm is a fast-growing deciduous tree that reaches a height of 50-70 ft. It has a round crown of slender, spreading branches. Bark is rough, gray or brown, and shallowly furrowed at maturity. Twigs are nearly hairless with small, blunt buds. Toothed leaves are small, smooth, dark green, and pointed at the tip. Spring flowers are small and green, lack petals, and occur in drooping clusters of 2 to 5. After flowering, a single seed forms in the center of each smooth, flattened, circular, ½ in.-wide fruit. Siberian elm reproduces by seed, and thickets of seedlings form around seed-producing trees, bare ground areas, animal and insect mounds, and other disturbed areas. Wind carries seed to distant areas where new colonies can form. Siberian elm tolerates a wide range of growing conditions and can be found in wet and dry soils, grasslands, roadsides, pastures, prairies, and stream banks. It survives under conditions not easily tolerated by other species, allowing it to take advantage of open ground and resources otherwise used by native plants. Seedlings quickly overtake native vegetation, often leading to invasion by additional weedy species.