Smooth elm

Family: Ulmaceae. Distributed throughout the European part of Russia.

Tree up to 25 m tall with a beautiful broad, elliptical crown and thin, drooping branches. Young shoots hairy at first, later smooth, light brown, glossy. The bark of mature trees is brownish, peeling off in thin flakes. Leaves oblong- or rounded-ovate, pointed at the tip, with a strongly unequal base (12 x 6 cm). Along the margin the leaves are doubly serrate, with sickle-shaped teeth; dark green and glabrous above, light green and softly hairy beneath; in autumn they turn brownish-purple. Small, brownish flowers with protruding purple stamens on long drooping flower stalks. Flowering lasts up to 10 days. Fruits are samaras, fringed along the margin.

Relatively shade-tolerant and winter-hardy. Grows rapidly. Tolerates pruning well and holds its shape. Lives to 200–300 years. Drought-resistant, but achieves good growth only on deep, fresh soils. In urban conditions, especially in street plantings, on poor and dry soils it shows weak growth, early leaf fall and crown dieback. Soil compaction and asphalt cover also retard its growth. It does not tolerate dustiness and shading by buildings, nor soil salinity. Used in solitary and group plantings; looks good in linear and avenue plantings. Long cultivated.

Decorative forms: golden-variegated (f. aureovariegata); silver-variegated (f. argenteo-variegata); red (f. rubra) - with reddish leaves; incised (f. incisa) - with dissected leaves and sinuses between them; linden-leaved (f. tiliaefolia) - with cordate-rounded leaves resembling linden leaves. Ornamental varieties are planted singly or in small groups.