Q&A for How to Identify an Elm Tree

Elm trees are a slow-growing deciduous tree, so they take a long time to reach their full height. They grow around 2-3 ft a year, depending on their location and exact microclimate.

Yes, morels are often found beneath the shade of elm trees. Dead elms, especially, are often a popular place for morel mushrooms.

Dutch elm disease is apparent when you see elm leaves starting to wither or turn yellow in summer, when they are usually green and healthy. It might seem as though fall came early. Usually the disease attacks the upper branches first, then spreads down the length of the tree.

Yes, some people may have an allergy to elm pollen.

Elms do best in well-drained but moist soil.

English elms can be found in Spain.

No, most elms don't seed until June.

Yes, American elms are common throughout Florida.

Chinese elms are about 10–18 meters (33–59 feet) tall and 15–20 meters (49–66 feet) wide. They have small, jagged-edged leaves. Their bark is flaky and reveals a light orange, cream, or green colored trunk beneath. In autumn, their leaves will turn yellow or purple.

Elm trees regrow their leaves during the spring.

Nobody is quite sure, but some experts think that the sap elms release as they die acts as a kind of fertilizer that morels are particularly well-adapted to use.

Yes. While all elms produce bisexual flowers, male elms produce pollen, while female elms do not produce pollen.

It is approximately 50 years old. If it reaches 40-60 ft. in diameter, it is then considered mature, which for tall trees is usually about 100 years old.

Yes, but the tree does not produce a great quantity of seeds until it has reached maturity.

No, fireblight only affects members of the rose family. Elms are susceptible to Dutch elm disease, however.

If you are unable to pull them out, you can cut off the shoot and put a drop of weed killer on the cut stem (it will absorb the liquid). If it's large - more than 1/2" - drill a hole in the top and fill it with weed killer.

Call your local cooperative extension office. They'll come and look at it and suggest a course of action, or suggest a specialist if they think it's dying.

Elm trees are in abundance all across the great state of Michigan.

Some elm trees -- the winged elm, cedar elm, and rock elm -- are hardwood trees. Others are softwood, like the American Elm, Wych elm, English elm, red elm, and Dutch Elm.

It could be because of blight disease. Blight disease spreads by leaves, and the leaves often look like they've been burned. To get rid of this disease, you have to remove all of the affected leaves.

If it is in England, and it is still alive, then it is Dutch Elm resistant and not only very rare, but absolutely critical to the re-establishment of this species. It may not be illegal, but as a matter of moral rectitude you should not cut one down.

American Elm wood (heartwood) is almost pure white with a very fine, interwoven grain. I found elm logs impossible to split with wedges because of this grain pattern. When the wood ages, it assumes a light, yellowish-brown cast. The grain of wood taken from diseased trees (Dutch Elm Disease) will show dark, blueish-to-black streaks, more densely streaked in the advanced stage of disease.