Ulmus minor
Inyo Co: Near Bishop, CA
May 2008

Ulmus parviflora
Kern Co: Bakersfield, CA
Cultivated, habit of plant, June 2005;
fruiting branch, 17 Nov 2005

Trees and Shrubs of Kern County (Feb 2013)

     Ulmus Deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs, leaves simple, alternate, spreading in one plane, asymmetrical at base, pinnate veined, toothed along margins; stipules 2, deciduous; flowers unisexual or bisexual, in small clusters on pedicels arising from branches of the previous year, before or after leaves, 3–9 merous; gynoecium syncarpous, 2-carpelled, styles bifid. Fruit: samara, pericarp wing completely encircling seed.  ±40 species, temperate northern hemisphere, mostly China.

Key to species of Ulmus in Kern County

1. Leaves 3.5–8.3 cm; fruit body (seed part) reddish.. ............................. Ulmus minor

1. Leaves 1–3.5 cm..................................................................................................... 2

2. Fruit appearing in the autumn; bark scaly, the scales
orange-brown, 2–8 cm across..................................................... Ulmus parvifolia

2. Fruit appearing in spring (before leaves); bark furrowed, gray,
not scaly.......................................................................................... Ulmus pumila

*Ulmus minor Miller 1768. English elm. Native of Europe. Frequent in waste places and vacant lots in Wasco (Twisselmann). Ulmus procera Salisbury 1796 in CCH.  In FNA Vol. 3, Sherman-Broyles considered U. procera, a distinct species, to be the one introduced in North America, not U. minor..

*Ulmus parvifolia Jacquin 1798. Chinese elm. Native to China and Japan. Flowering late summer-early fall.  Wooded or disturbed sites <400 m; Washington DC., Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia and California, especially Los Angeles and San Diego Cos. Kern  Co.: Spontaneous along Kern River at Hart Park (Twisselmann).  Also, reproducing by seed in yards, seedlings infrequent but a nuisance.

*Ulmus pumila Linnaeus 1753. Siberian elm. Flowering late winter-early spring.  Widespread in the U.S., waste places, roadsides, fence rows, <2200 m.  Kern Co.: Occasional at Kernville, Mojave, and Rosamond (Twisselmann).