ID - Siberian Elm?

karen82

Mame
Messages
239
Reaction score
173
Location
Wisconsin
USDA Zone
5
There were a few of these young elm or elm-like seedlings coming up, so I grabbed two hoping they might be something I could use.
I was hoping they were American elms, but it's looking more like Siberians. But I'm not certain and was hoping someone else might know better.
The leaves are small, all under 2", but might not be full sized yetmay 001.JPGmay 002.JPG
 

BrianBay9

Masterpiece
Messages
2,781
Reaction score
5,551
Location
Fresno, CA
USDA Zone
9
The symmetrical base to the leaves would suggest Siberian.
 

Random User

Guest
Messages
1,313
Reaction score
1,168
@karen82

If you have a White Elm (American Elm) close to you (like on your street) and it happens to go to seed, just gather a bread bag full of leaves and scatter them over the top of a propagation tray (with a tall clear lid), dust them with soil and water them in. Place them in a sunny spot (I have a south facing window in my garage), and at times I have scattered them in the garden and covered them tent-like with a clear plastic bag. Keep it humid for a time and before you know it, you'll have hundreds of known seedlings to choose from. I put mine in plastic bulb pots and leave them until the next spring when I dump the pot into my hand early in the spring, clip the taproot, and flop them back into the pot for another year. (they are about 8 -10" tall at this time)

They grow super fast as seedlings, but it will take a long time to get a trunk of any reasonable caliper to work with. (Many years)

If you buy a tree from a nursery, with the intention of doing thread grafts, these seedlings are ideal.

Sadly, not many nurseries are bringing in elms of any description this year (in the Prairies) because of DED and so many people are being left with a huge bill to have them cut down... and the nurseries don't want to be left with old stock or have to be forced to mark them down... I fear they may become an abandoned species in the near future.
 
Top Bottom