Siberian Elm, Hybrid elm
Ulmus pumila
Family: Ulmaceae
What it is like
Bloom Color: Green. Main Bloom Time: Early spring, Late spring, Mid spring. Form: Vase.
Ulmus pumila is a deciduous Tree growing to 15 m (49ft) by 12 m (39ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 3 and is not frost tender. It is in flower in April, and the seeds ripen in May. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.
Height (m): 15
Where it is found
Dry sandy or stony soils, pebbles of river valleys, slopes and occasionally on rocks. Slopes, valleys and plains at elevations of 1000 - 2500 metres.
E. Asia - China, E. Siberia, Turkestan.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
Leaves - raw or cooked. Used as a potherb. Inner bark - cooked. It can be dried and made into noodles. The dried inner bark can also be ground into a powder and then used as a thickener in soups or added to cereal flours when making bread etc. Fruit - raw or cooked. Used when immature, it can be made into a sauce and a wine. The fruit is about 10mm in diameter.
Inner bark: the bark that is found just beneath the tough outer bark of trees and shrubs.
Medicine
Rating: 2
The leaves are diuretic and febrifuge. They are used as a pot herb and are then said to be antibilious, antidote and lithontripic. The stem bark is demulcent, diuretic, febrifuge and lenitive. It is mixed with oil and vinegar then used as a poultice on abscesses, mastitis and swellings.
Antibilious: Corrects the secretions of bile.
Antidote: Counters poisoning.
Demulcent: Soothes, lubricates and softens irritated tissues, especially the mucous membranes.
Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.
Febrifuge: Reduces fevers.
Lenitive: Soothing, palliative.
Lithontripic: Removes stones from the kidney, bladder etc.
Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.
Other
Rating: 3
A coarse cloth is made from the inner bark. A fairly wind resistant tree, it can be grown as part of a shelterbelt planting. Wood - hard, heavy, tough, difficult to split. Used for agricultural implements, boat making etc.
Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.
Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.
Shelterbelt: Wind resistant plants than can be grown to provide shelter in the garden etc.
Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.
Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Agroforestry Services: Windbreak: Linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock and benefit soil and water conservation.
Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.
Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
How it is grown
Landscape Uses:Firewood, Aggressive surface roots possible. Prefers a fertile soil in full sun, but is easily grown in any soil of at least moderate quality so long as it is well drained. Succeeds in a hot dry position. Established plants are drought resistant. Fairly wind-tolerant. This species, or at least some of its cultivars, is resistant to 'Dutch elm disease', a disease that has destroyed the greater part of all the elm trees growing in Britain. The disease is spread by means of beetles. There is no effective cure (1992) for the problem, but most E. Asian, though not Himalayan, species are resistant (though not immune) to the disease so the potential exists to use these resistant species to develop new resistant hybrids with the native species. The various species of this genus hybridize freely with each other and pollen is easily saved, so even those species with different flowering times can be hybridized. Special Features:Not North American native, Invasive, Naturalizing, Inconspicuous flowers or blooms.
Propagating it: Seed - if sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe, it usually germinates within a few days. Stored seed does not germinate so well and should be sown in early spring. The seed can also be harvested 'green' (when it has fully developed but before it dries on the tree) and sown immediately in a cold frame. It should germinate very quickly and will produce a larger plant by the end of the growing season. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Plants should not be allowed to grow for more than two years in a nursery bed since they form a tap root and will then move badly. Layering of suckers or coppiced shoots.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Canopy; Secondary;
Habit: Tree
Hardiness: 4-9
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Dry, moist