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American elm, Florida elm Ulmus americana
Ulmaceae
General Landscape Uses:
Specimen or shade tree.
Availability:
Commonly available at native plant nurseries in northeast and central Florida. Available in Naples at Everglades Native Designs.
Description: Tall, stately deciduous tree 60-80 feet tall forming a vase-shaped crown. Shiny green leaves 3-6 inches long with toothed edges.
Dimensions: Typically 60-80 feet in height, taller than broad. Up to 100 feet in height in the Florida Panhandle.
Growth Rate: Moderately fast.
Range:
Eastern half of the United States from Maine to Montana south to Texas and Collier and Palm Beach counties. For a digitized image of Elbert Little's Florida range map, visit the Exploring Florida website.
Soils: Moist to seasonally wet, well-drained to poorly-drained sandy or limestone soils, with humusy top layer.
Nutritional Requirements: Moderate; can grow in nutrient poor soils, but needs some organic content to thrive.
Salt Water Tolerance: Low; does not tolerate long-term flooding by salt or brackish water.
Salt Wind Tolerance: Low; salt wind may burn the leaves.
Drought Tolerance: Moderate; generally requires moist soils, but tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
Light Requirements: Full sun to light shade.
Flower Color: Greenish red.
Flower Characteristics: Inconspicuous.
Flowering Season: Early spring.
Fruit: Flattened samara.
Wildlife and Ecology: Provides moderate amounts of food and significant cover for wildlife. Larval host plant for question mark (Polygonia interrogationis) butterflies.
Horticultural Notes: Florida plants seem to be less vulnerable to devastating pests. Plants grown from Florida stock are offered as U. americana 'Florida population.'
Comments: We have been adding data for this species for central and northern Florida and welcome any feedback or review. If you would like to contribute information or images, please contact George Gann via the IRC staff page.
Map of select IRC data from peninsular Florida.
Map of suggested ZIP codes from South Florida north to southern Brevard, Osceola, Polk, and Pasco counties.
