Slippery Elm

Ulmus rubra Muhl.

           

               

          

All photographs are copyrighted and are the property of E. Brunner.

Family:  Ulmaceae

Native or Introduced to Illinois:  native

Natural Habit in Illinois:  Found in open wooded bluffs and rocky woods.

Leaf:  Alternate, 4 to 7 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, margin coarsely and sharply doubly serrated, base of leaf conspicuously inequilateral; upper surface very scabrous, slightly scabrous or hairy beneath.

Flower:  Appears March to May before leaves open.

Fruit:  Appears May to June, 3/4 to 1 inch across, margin and surface of wing smooth; surface of seed cavity pubescent.

Twig:   Often stouter than American elm, slightly zigzag; ashy gray to brownish gray, often scabrous; lateral buds dark, chestnut brown to nearly black; buds may be rusty-hairy, twigs mucilaginous when chewed.

Bark:  Dark reddish-brown, does not show buff-colored patches or streaks when sectioned; bark fissures not as diamond-shaped as American elm; inner bark mucilaginous.

Size/Form/Shape:   This graceful, arching tree reaches 20 m, with twigs that are scabrous-pubescent.  It can live to be 200 years old and is identified by its "slippery" inner bark. 

Other:  Ethnobotanic: This tree was valued for its bark, which supplied material for the sides of winter houses and roofs of the Meskwaki.  The inner bark was used for cordage by many tribes.  The Menomini gathered the bark, boiled it, and used it for making fiber bags and large storage baskets.  The Dakota, Omaha-Ponca, Winnebago, and Pawnee used the inner bark fiber for making ropes and cords.  Slippery elm was also used extensively as a medicine.  The Iroquois scraped the bark of the tree and used it in combination with other plants to treat infected and swollen glands.  The inner bark was made into an eye wash for sore eyes.  The Menomini used the inner bark in a tea and it was taken as a physic.  The inner bark was used by the Menomini and the Meskwaki in a poultice to heal sores on the body.  Meskwaki women drank a tea of the bark to make childbirth easier. The tree also was used by the Ojibwe to treat sore throats.  The fresh inner bark was boiled and the Dakota, Omaha-Ponca, and other tribes drank the resulting decoction as a laxative.  The indigenous people generously taught some of these uses to early non-Indian settlers.  Today slippery elm is found in health food stores and is used to relieve sore throats, coughs and other bronchial ailments, and used as a laxative.  The wood is used commercially for making furniture, paneling, and containers.

 Wildlife: Birds often nest in the thick elm foliage, and the seeds and buds are food to songbirds, game birds, and squirrels.  Deer and rabbits browse on the twigs.

County Distribution Map for Illinois:  

Sources for the Sullivan Middle School Tree Identification Guide were obtained though the use of the following sites:

• Illinois Plant Information Network (ILPIN) @ http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/ilpin.html#Background
• List of Woody Plants Native or Naturalized in Illinois @ http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/woody.html
• Tree Species @ http://ostermiller.org/tree/species.html
• Index to Eastern/Central Trees @ http://www.arborday.org/trees/ECtreelist.html
• ISU Forestry Extension Identification of Common Trees of Iowa @ http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/
• Key to Leaves of Virginia Trees @ http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm
• List of Native Trees for Use Along Roadsides in Illinois @ http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/treetable.html
• The PLANTS Database @ http://plants.usda.gov/