{"id":19743,"date":"2022-07-19T11:30:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=19743"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:12:27","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-slippery-elm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-slippery-elm\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Slippery Elm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Drawing<\/a>The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we introduce the slippery elm or\u00a0Ulmus rubra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The slippery elm, also called red elm, is easily identified by its doubly-serrated simple leaves on short leaf stems, with a sandpapery upper surface. The bark features strong vertical ridges, which when sliced open feature alternating layers of tan and dark brown. The inner bark is slick, which gives the tree its name. The species also is called red elm due to its reddish heartwood.<\/p>\n

Slippery elm has slightly larger leaves than its relative, the American elm, as well as a sandpapery texture on the leaves and twigs. The slippery elm is typically found more in upland areas, while the American elm is found in moist soil conditions such as valleys as well as river and creek bottoms.<\/p>\n

Slippery elm can be found throughout much of the eastern and central United States, from Minnesota south into central Texas and as far west as central Kansas and Nebraska. Its range extends from northern Florida to Vermont along the east coast.<\/p>\n

Like the American elm, which used to be a common street tree in Indiana, the number of slippery elms has dwindled due to\u00a0Dutch elm disease<\/a>, a fungal diseased which ravaged the species in the second half of the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century. Another disease called Elm Yellows (formerly phloem necrosis) also seriously affected slippery elms.<\/p>\n