Tree to 20 m (65 ft) tall and 60 cm (2 ft) in diameter with rounded, often wide-spreading, crown. Bark gray, thick, divided into wide forking scaly ridges. Twigs thin, brown, usually glabrous. Buds dark brown, glabrous, pointed, no terminal bud. Leaves alternate, elliptical, acuminate, with the two sides of the rounded base unequal, 7.5-15 cm (3-6 in) long and 2.5-7.5 cm (1-3 in) wide, margins doubly serrate, dark green and smooth above, paler and usually soft-hairy below. Flowers in small clusters on leafless twigs, small, greenish or brownish, blooming in late Winter. Fruits in small clusters at leaf bases, nearly round samaras about 10-13 mm (0.4-0.5 in) in diameter, maturing in early Spring soon after leaves appear.
Distribution: Native to about the eastern half of the U. S. and adjacent southern Canada.
Habitat: Well-drained floodplain forests, moist upland forests, prairie ravines.
NWI status: FAC
Comment: Ulmus is the old Latin name for the elms; americana refers to North America.
Distribution in Oklahoma: 
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Last update: 9/21/99
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