Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Common forest trees of North Carolina

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  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-9711.jpg
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  • tf^«*t5>-£= ^>-^P-*J^>- ST TREES WINGED ELM (Ulmus alata Michx.) THE winged elm gets its common name from the thin corky growth, or "wings," usually found on the smaller branches. It occurs scattered generally over the State except in the mountains, usually on dry, gravelly uplands, but often in moist soils and in waste places. It grows rapidly in moist situations, and at the same time is one of the best trees for planting along roadsides in dry poor locations. It is comparatively free from disease, though not notably long-lived. This elm is a medium-sized tree of 40 to 50 feet in height and rarely as large as 2 feet in diameter. It forms a rather open, round-topped head. The bark is light brown, tinged with red, and divided into irregular flat ridges and fissures. The leaves are simple, alternate, 2 to 4 inches long and 1 to 2 inches broad, coarsely double-toothed, thick, dark green and smooth above, and pale and softly downy below. They are smaller than those of any other elm native in the State. The flowers appear in early spring, long before the leaves unfold. The fruit ripens in the spring about the time the leaves appear; it is winged, tipped with 2 small incurved awns, or beaks, oblong, reddish brown, about one-third of an inch long, wPth a long slender stalk at the base, and covered with white hairs. The wood is very similar to that of the other elms—heavy, hard, strong and difficult to split. It is occasionally used for hubs and mauls. Formerly, rope made of the inner bark was used for binding the covers to cotton bales. WINGED ELM Two-thirds natural size. 49
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