American Elm seedlings not leafing out

[Fi5ch]

I bought 10 2-year American Elm seedlings in early March that seem healthy but still have not leafed out. It has been a cold, wet spring here at the Jersey shore but it seems really late for no buds etc. I took off the old leaves today and they required a bit of pulling to get them off. Is this very late start typical?

 

[Fi5ch]

some pics below:

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Can't really tell much from the photos. They should have leafed out by now. BUT, weird things can happen. Give 'em until 4th of July. If no leaves by then, they are definitely dead. Try to figure out what went wrong.

 

[sorce]

That's a hops hornbeam I reckon.

Wait.

Sorce

 

[19Mateo83]

Those look buds look an awfully lot like the buds of beech trees.

 

[rodeolthr]

I concur with @19Mateo83 , those certainly look more like beech than elm

 

[Mikecheck123]

Son of a beech

 

[19Mateo83]

Beech does leaf out later than elm though. They were one of the last things here in North Carolina to leaf out.

 

[Fi5ch]

Source may be right; the buds look a lot like a hops hornbeam. Here is a pic of one of the leaves from last year.

 

[sorce]

I was thinking it may be that other pointy bud winter leaf holder....
Been a while since I seen a HH bud and never seen a Beech one.

Sorce

 

[Joe_B]

Some of my trees just starting sprouting buds… you could dig your finger nail in a bit to see if the branches are green.