Just wingin' it...

[Bonsai Nut]

Hey Si;

Here are the wings on my Eastern Wing Elm. They only project horizontally, and there are only two lines of them on each branch. The wing elm you showed me is very different...

 

[markyscott]

I think that this is a winged elm, but the wings are not only in a plane. On stronger growth, there is more corking. But I find it difficult to tell elm varieties apart.

Scott

 

[Bonsai Nut]

My wings are all grey - even on a small cutting I have.

My friend Si was showing me a wing elm he has - the wings are all brown (like yours) and there are more than two of them on each branch.

 

[markyscott]

Interesting - perhaps Si would be willing to post his photo. I'd like to see it.

On mine it's brown because it's this seasons growth. They turn grey over time. Yours look as though they're more than one season old..

Scott

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Interesting - perhaps Si would be willing to post his photo. I'd like to see it.

On mine it's brown because it's this seasons growth. They turn grey over time. Yours look as though they're more than one season old..

Scott

That's the way they are. I've never seen them brown - ever. Tomorrow I'll take a photo of a little cutting that I am growing out to do a root graft - it barely has any wings... but they are all grey as they come out of the stem.

 

[Si Nguyen]

Mine is a little different than either of your trees. Mine has thick cork bark on the trunk and irregular wings on the branches. My tree is ugly though. I just chopped it off and started it over as a sumo style shohin. Pictures later

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Mine is a little different than either of your trees. Mine has thick cork bark on the trunk and irregular wings on the branches. My tree is ugly though. I just chopped it off and started it over as a sumo style shohin. Pictures later

I seem to recall yours had wings all over. Almost like ridges around the entire branch. I only have two wings - everywhere. I couldn't find anywhere with more than two.

 

[markyscott]

Here's a picture of my tree when I repotted it last Februaury. Gray bark, but no cork on the trunk. I was told it was a cedar elm when I bought it. It was collected in '95 and planted in a club members back yard. A friend bought it from him and dug it out of the yard about ten years ago. There were no wings on the branches when I bought it, but it was weak and hadn't been repotted in many years. The potting soil it had been grown in was compacted and the tree was rootbound. I fertilized heavily and this year it sent vigorous 3 foot shoots with the color and corking that you see. Cedar elm make wings too, but not like this in my experience - so I think it's probably a winged elm. Additionally, the leaf bottoms did not feel as rough as on my cedar elms. But who knows - maybe it something else?

I'm curious to see yours, Si.

Scott

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Here's a picture of this tree from 7 years ago (before branches were developed). You can see the nature of the bark is very different. Very scaly / flaky and grey.

 

[markyscott]

Cool tree. Could yours be a Cedar Elm? Mine have flaky bark and wings like that.

Scott

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Could be anything really... given how poorly people label their trees. But when I bought it from San Gabriel nursery about 10 years ago it was sold as an "Eastern Wing Elm".

 

[markyscott]

Too funny - maybe I bought a Winged Elm labeled as a Cedar Elm and you bought a Cedar Elm labeled as a Winged Elm.

Many elms can cross pollinate, but, if I remember right, Cedar and Winged cannot as they flower different times of the year. So that's one way to tell - what season does your tree flower? Another way is by the texture of the leaves. The bottom of a Cedar Elm is rough, like sandpaper. Winged Elm is not. Perhaps one of our botanists can tell us some other ways to tell.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

Cedar Elm is one of only two native elms that flower in the fall. The rest are spring flowering elms. So if your tree flowers in the fall it's for sure a Cedar Elm. The only other one that does is the September Elm and it's very rare. All of the other native elms flower in the spring.

Scott

 

[Dan W.]

Cool wings guys! Bonsai Nut, do you have a current photo of yours?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Cool wings guys! Bonsai Nut, do you have a current photo of yours?

This is from last Fall. It's the most color I get from my elms