{"id":19772,"date":"2022-07-21T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=19772"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:13:34","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-american-elm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-american-elm\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: American 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<\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/strong><\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/strong><\/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<\/strong><\/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<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

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

The American elm, also called white elm, is easily identified by its simple doubly-serrated oval leaves, which feature a large tooth with small teeth like edges on top that. The leaves are held on fine twigs, which turn a medium brown over the summer. The bark of the American elm is spongy, with strong crisscrossing ridges. When sliced open, these ridges show distinct reddish brown and light tan\/white colored layers inside the bark. This is different from the dark brown and reddish-brown layers found in the bark of red elm or slippery elm.<\/p>\n

The American elm features an open, spreading crown and drooping limbs that form a vase shape.<\/p>\n

American elm is a common tree in many riparian forest areas or moist soil forest areas. The species used to be a common street tree in Indiana, but that number has dwindled due to\u00a0Dutch elm disease<\/a>, a fungal diseased which ravaged the species in the second half of the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0century.<\/p>\n

American elm can be found throughout the northeastern United States south to central Florida and west to central Texas and north to southeastern Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n