Ulmus pumila
Common name: 
Siberian Elm
Pronunciation: 
UL-mus PU-mi-la
Family: 
Ulmaceae
Genus: 
Ulmus
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous tree, 50-70 ft (15-21 m) tall, its width about 3/4 its height, open habit, brittle, pendulous branches.  Leaves simple, alternate, 3-8 cm long, 0.8-3+ cm wide, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, nearly equal at the base, usually simply serrate, dark green and smooth above, glabrous below, petiole tinged dark red.  Flowers appear before leaves, inconspicuous, green.   Fruit about 1 cm, almost a round disk, a closed notch at the tip of the wing.
  • Sun.  Very adaptable, often grows under adverse conditions.  Resistant to Dutch elm disease.  Frequently used as a hedge in rural areas, but generally considered a poor ornamental tree, mostly because of its weak branches, messy habit, and susceptibility to insect attack, especially leaf beetles.  Extensively planted in the 1930s.  Sometimes sold as Chinese Elm, a name that is also used to identify Ulmus parvifolia, a superior ornamental tree, which, to avoid confusion, is now sold as Lacebark Elm.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Native to eastern Siberia, northern China, Manchuria, and Korea.
  • pumila: dwarf, according to Jacobson (1996) the botanically typical form of the species is a small-leaved shrub of eastern Siberia and Mongolia (hence dwarf).  However, the form in northern China, Manchuria, and Korea is a tree.
Click image to enlarge
  • lone tree in Eastern Oregon

    lone tree in Eastern Oregon

  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branches

    branches

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark

  • winter branches

    winter branches

  • winter twigs, buds

    winter twigs, buds