Herb: Winged Elm


Latin name: Ulmus alata


Family: Ulmaceae (Elm Family)



Edible parts of Winged Elm:

Leaves - raw or cooked.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Deciduous
Tree

Height:
15 m
(49 feet)

Flowering:
May

Habitat of the herb:

Dry gravelly uplands, less often in alluvial soils on the borders of swamps and banks of streams, occasionally in inundated swamps.

Other uses of Winged Elm:

The inner bark is very fibrous and can be used as a string. Wood - close-grained, heavy, hard, not strong, brittle, difficult to split. It weighs about 46lb per cubic foot, is not considered to be as strong as other elms, but is used for tool handles, wheel hubs etc.

Propagation of the herb:

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.

Cultivation of Winged Elm:

Dry gravelly uplands, less often in alluvial soils on the borders of swamps and banks of streams, occasionally in inundated swamps.

Medicinal use of the herb:

None known

Known hazards of Ulmus alata:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.