Plant · P-998

Cedar Elm

Ulmus crassifolia

Cedar Elm is a fast, tough shade tree that holds on ground most trees can't - dense waterlogged clay, dry limestone hills, compacted urban soil. It breaks the usual elm calendar by flowering in late summer instead of spring, so its seed ripens in autumn rather than the season everyone expects, and its pollen can trigger severe hay fever if it's planted too close to a window. It shows real, though not complete, resistance to Dutch elm disease. The one catch to growing where nothing else will: only a small fraction of its seed produces a plantable seedling, so raising enough stock takes patience.