Tree to 15 m (50 ft) tall and 30 cm (1 ft) in diameter with rounded open crown. Bark light brown, thin, divided into irregular furrows and ridges. Twigs thin, gray, glabrous, usually forming two flat corky ridges or wings on older twigs. Buds egg-shaped, covered by brown hairy scales, no terminal bud. Leaves alternate, elliptical, short-pointed, with the two sides of the rounded base slightly unequal, 3-6 cm (1.2-2.4 in) long and about half as wide, margins doubly serrate, dark green and smooth above, paler and 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, elliptical samaras about 10 mm (0.4 in) long, with a narrow wing, maturing in early Spring soon after the leaves appear.
Distribution: Native to about the southeastern quarter of the U. S.
Habitat: Upland oak-hickory forests, oak-pine forest, the Eastern Cross Timbers.
NWI status: FACU
Comment: Ulmus is the old Latin name for the elms; alata refers to the corky wings that are usually present on the twigs.
Distribution in Oklahoma:
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Last update: 9/20/99
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