Elm

Elm (Ulmus spp./Ulmaceae). The genus Elm (Ulmus spp.) has about 45 species that grow in Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean region and all of the New World. All species are identical microscopically. In the U.S., elms are native to the eastern and Midwest United States. The trees can attain heights of 100 ft with diameters of 3 ft. Elm sapwood is off white, and the heartwood is light brown to reddish brown. Elm is medium with respect to weight, hardness and stiffness and excellent bending strength and resistance to shock. It has interlocked grain, making it difficult to split. It is slightly to nonresistant to decay. It is used for baskets, boxes, caskets, cheese boxes, crates, furniture, hockey sticks, pulp and paper manufacture, slack cooperage, and veneer.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/TechSheets/HardwoodNA/pdf_files/ulmusmet.pdf.

Characteristics found in the Elm (Ulmus spp.)

• Ring Porous
• Latewood Pattern Ulmiform (wavy bands)
• Spirals in vessels
• Simple perforations
• I/V pits medium to large (8-50)
• Rays 1-8 seriate & homocellular
• Crystals in axial parenchyma

WOOD SLIDES
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Cross-section of Elm (Ulmus sp.) Showing growth ring boundary and ulmiform latewood.	Cross-section of Elm (Ulmus sp.) showing thick fibers, rays and ulmiform latewood vessels.

CHARCOAL SLIDES