Tall and squat, powerful and sophisticated, with a chunky chic crown and beautiful leaves - these regal trees serve as a worthy decoration of the streets of many cities. Elms are constantly planted in parks, alleys, squares and in the yards of residential buildings. In the modern world, their noble genus has more than 20 species. Elm tree appeared about 40 million years ago, it is believed that it was then that it stood out in an independent family. He was revered for unusual qualities by the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is known that in ancient times, elm grew on a significant part of the Apennine Peninsula. And according to the Old Slavic legend, Svarog himself, the revered god of the Eastern Slavs, walked along the trunk of this wonderful tree, along with the goddess of love Lada.
Elm, which literally means "flexible rod", belongs to the genus of very ancient elm trees. In Europe, they are called elm (from the Celtic word elm), and among the Turkic peoples, elms are better known as elm.
Description of Elm Tree
Adult trees of most elm species look powerful giants, sometimes reaching heights of up to 40 meters, and up to 2 meters in trunk diameter. Their crowns are thick, cylindrical in shape. The bark on the trunks has a rich dark brown color, and the long life of the tree remains smooth.
Elms bloom in April-May from a few days to a week: small greenish-yellow flowers are collected by spherical bunches. At the place of flowering, flattened nut fruits sprouted with wings sprout. They ripen with the onset of heat, and caught by the wind are carried throughout the district. Branched elm is densely leafed with characteristic jagged edges. At the base of the oval leaves, a slight slope can be observed.
When describing an elm tree, it is worth mentioning its root system, which can successfully compete with oak. This is a highly developed network with individual roots going both to the surface and to the depth. In podzolic soils they diverge widely from each other. Sometimes, especially in large trees, at the foot of the trunk, disc-shaped roots can form that serve as their support.
Elm Features
A remarkable feature of elm trees is that some of their species can grow on fairly complex soils. They tolerate drought, winds, severe frosts, can grow on saline lands. That is why these trees have become indispensable in the steppe forest plantations, shelterbelts and water protection zones. But elms grow more safely, where the soils are rich and loose. Thus, their life expectancy will entirely depend on the conditions of the growth environment, and usually on average it is 200-400 years.
The planted elms with their powerful beautiful crown look decorative and give a diffused shadow, therefore they are often used for landscaping cities. They look great both in single and group landings. The foliage has a bright color and, depending on the type of trees and the season, is full of burgundy, yellow-orange, green, brown flowers. Elm foliage is well tolerated by exhaust gases, purifies the air, traps dust.
Ilm forests
In natural nature, pure elm forests are extremely rare. Their mass plantings are observed in coniferous-deciduous and broad-leaved forests in Asia, Europe, Scandinavia, North America, the Balkans. And if Europe is more common elm smooth, rough, elliptical, leaf, then in Asia - it is squat, valley, lobed, and in America - American elm.
In Russia, deciduous elm trees grow in the Far East, the Southern Urals, the southeastern part of the Russian Plain, and the Central region. The most common forests with the following types of elm: leaf, lobed, small-leaved, smooth, cork, mountain (rough), large-fruited and Japanese. Preferring fertile soils, they grow mainly along the shores of lakes and in floodplains. The total area of such stands occupies 500 thousand ha.
Elm smooth
Ilm smooth (or ordinary) can be found mainly in broad-leaved forests in the territory of central Russia, Siberia, as well as in Kazakhstan. Elm tree easily tolerates shade and harsh winters, but prefers moist and fertile soils. Its height is an average of 25 meters, and a wide crown is presented in the form of a ball. Elms of this species live up to 300 years, and their intensive growth is observed immediately after planting.
The peculiarity of smooth elm consists in thin hanging branches having a smooth and shiny bark. In old trees, this bark cracks and eventually forms peeling plates. Leaves of an elliptical shape have a smooth surface on one side, and the back - covered with hairs. With the onset of autumn, they acquire a saturated purple color.
Large-fruited elm
Large-fruited Ilm is distributed in China, Korea, Mongolia and the Russian Far East. The species got its name thanks to large edible fruits. The elm tree looks like a shrub or small tree 6-8 meters high. Its crust of dark brown or gray color is capable of deep cracking. The leaves have a pointed apex and unequal wedge-shaped base, and are edged with short serrated denticles along the edges. Being one of the most unpretentious and drought-resistant plants, elm grows in open places: along rocky clefts, ravines, on rocky slopes, at the foot of hills and along scree along rivers.
The imposing branchy crown, shiny leaves and large fruits make this type of elm decorative, as a result of which it is successfully used in landscape design and landscaping of cities.
Small-leaved elm
Small-leaved (or squat) elm under natural conditions is widely distributed on the islands of Japan, northern Mongolia, eastern Kazakhstan, the Far East and Transbaikalia of Russia. It is also successfully cultivated in North America and Southern Europe. Adult trees of this species have a small height and barely reach 15 meters, and in the diameter of the trunk are no more than a meter. Elms have a dense hipped crown, sometimes growing in a bush. Thin branches of yellowish-green color are strewn with small, simple, elliptical or broad-lanceolate leaves from 2 to 7 cm long. In autumn they acquire an olive-yellow color.
Small-leaved elm is very light-loving and unpretentious to the soil, also tolerates frost and drought. Due to such biological features, it is successfully used in forest shelter belts and for forest restoration.
Blade Elm
Biological elm lobed (or split) is close to rough elm, common in Europe. Under natural conditions, it is found in the Far East, Sakhalin, Japan, Korea and China. It grows mainly in mixed forests of foothill areas and on mountain slopes, making its way to a height of up to 700 meters above sea level. The species owes its name to the original form of large leaf blades resembling blades. Its trees with a dense cylindrical crown reach an average of 25 meters in height.
Blade elm grows very slowly, by the age of 30 its growth is only 8 meters. It is more demanding on soils, in comparison with its other relatives, and is unstable to salts. At the same time, it is shade-tolerant, windproof and tolerant of frost, although young elm trees often freeze in winter.
Rough elm
Rough Ilm (or mountain) grows in Eastern and Western Europe, is found in deciduous forests and in the European part of Russia. Straight-bore trees have smooth dark bark with brown branches and a round-lush crown. Large dark green leaves on very short petioles grow in strict order, so the foliage hardly passes light. It has a rough surface on top and a hairy bottom, outwardly representing certain patterns. With the onset of autumn, the leaves become saturated yellow.
Rough Ilm is demanding on soil and moisture, but gets along well in urban conditions - it is gas-resistant. Under favorable environmental conditions, the elm tree reaches a height of up to 35 meters and lives up to 400 years.
Mushroom elm
The horned elm is a magnificent deciduous tree with a spreading crown, reaching a height of up to 35 meters and a trunk diameter of more than 150 cm. It is common in the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Africa and the European part of Russia. The broad trunk of the tree below is covered with smooth bark, and in the area where the branches appear, it becomes rough. Its long branches are fan-shaped and covered with serrated, unequal leaves, very diverse in size. Elm tree generously blooms in spring with small flowers, and closer to autumn, bears white nuts.
Among the people, this species of elm is better known as elm. It is characterized by strong salt tolerance and drought tolerance; therefore, it is widely used in steppe breeding, arid regions, and in shelterbelts.
Breeding
Elms breed self-seeding. Their seeds ripen in May-June and in a short time lose their germination ability. Therefore, only freshly picked material will be suitable for planting. In nature, they can also multiply by shoots and root offspring, but for amateur nurseries such methods are ineffective in breeding trees.
It is recommended to store elm seeds until sowing in good ventilation for no more than one week. A couple of days before planting, they are moistened and treated with a fungicide. Planting sites do not need preliminary preparation, but you can add a little mineral fertilizer to the soil. Seeds are sown in rows at a distance of 20-30 cm between the pits to a shallow depth of only 1 cm. From above, they are covered with hay, moss or a thin layer of soil and well watered. Seedlings are shown in a week. In the first year of life, elms grow to 15 cm, in the subsequent years they add up to 40 cm.
