Chinese Elm Tree Seed

Chinese Elm Seeds
Ulmus parvifolia
Description: The Chinese Elm is a small to medium-sized deciduous, semi-deciduous (rarely semi-evergreen) tree growing to 10-18 m tall with a slender trunk and crown. The leathery, lustrous green single-toothed leaves are small, 2-5 cm long by 1-3 cm broad, and often retained as late as December or even January in Europe and North America. The flowers are produced in early autumn, small and inconspicuous, with the seed maturing rapidly and dispersing by late autumn. The trunk has a handsome, flaking bark of mottled grays with tans and reds, giving rise to its other common name, the Lacebark Elm, although scarring from major branch loss can lead to large canker-like wounds. One of the tree’s major distinctions is its resistance to insect attack.
USDA Zones: 3a to 9b
Habit: Upright, inverted vase-like, deciduous tree
Growth Rate: Moderate to rapid
Site Requirements: Sun; moist, well drained soil, but tolerates poor soil, as well as soils that are rocky or disturbed.
Texture: Medium to fine.
Form: Rounded top; pendulous branches.
Height: 40 to 50 feet.
Width: 40 to 50 feet.
Leaf: .7 to 2.5 inches alternate, simple leaves; yellowish to reddish purple fall color.
Flower/Fruit: Not showy.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Water: Regular garden watering. Chinese elm is not as tolerant of drought as Siberian elm.
Uses: Most of the elms make great shade and avenue trees, and Chinese elm is one of the best. This is a good replacement for American elm which is apparently going extinct due to Dutch elm disease. Foliage in autumn often turns shades of red and purple. With its multi-colored exfoliating bark, Chinese elm is especially attractive in winter.
Comments: Bark sheds leaving irregular spots of orange, gray, green, brown; tough durable tree; easy to transplant; good street tree; resistant to Dutch elm disease and air pollution; great variability among seedlings.
Discussion: An excellent tree that is surprisingly under-used, Chinese Elm possesses many traits which make it ideal for a multitude of landscape uses. A fast-growing, deciduous, or evergreen tree, Chinese Elm forms a graceful, upright, rounded canopy of long, arching, and somewhat weeping branches which are clothed with two to three-inch-long, shiny, dark green, leathery leaves. Some specimens grow in the typical vase-shaped elm form. In colder regions of the country in fall, leaves are transformed into various shades of red, purple, or yellow. The tree is evergreen in the southern extent of its range. The showy, exfoliating bark reveals random, mottled patterns of grey, green, orange, and brown, adding great textural and visual interest, especially to its winter silhouette. Chinese Elm can reach 80 feet in height but is more often seen at 40 to 50 feet, making it an ideal shade, specimen, street, or parking lot tree. They look very nice planted in a grove or along a street.