Appearance

Appearance

Side shoots harden into sharp thorns; on wild trees they can be 4–5 in (10–13 cm) long. Cultivated trees usually have much smaller thorns.

Growth form

A deciduous tree that can reach about 65 ft (20 m) in Korea, though it often stays a broad, prickly shrub or small tree without a strong central trunk. Bark is gray-brown and deeply furrowed.

Leaves

Oval, pointed leaves about ¾–2¼ in (2–6 cm) long, with 7–15 teeth on each side. Each side vein runs straight out to end in a tooth.

Fruit

A small, flat, lopsided fruit, about ¼ in (6 mm) long, with a wing on only one side. The genus name means "half wing" for this reason.

Look-alikes

Images coming soon

Siberian elmUlmus pumila

Siberian elm has no thorns, and its round, papery fruit has the seed in the middle with the wing all the way around.

Why they get mixed up · Both have small, toothed, elm-like leaves; Siberian elm is widespread in the US.

Chinese elmUlmus parvifolia

Chinese elm has no thorns, flowers in early fall instead of spring, and has mottled, flaking bark.

Why they get mixed up · Its small, toothed leaves look very similar.

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• Stream banks
• Forest edges
• Village groves

Range

Native to northeastern and central China, Manchuria, eastern Mongolia, and Korea. It doesn't grow wild in the US; outside East Asia it's an uncommon garden tree that was already growing in European gardens by 1908.

Preferred conditions

Prefers moist ground near streams and tolerates flooding, but does poorly in dry spots.

Connected species

Close relatives

• Japanese zelkovaZelkova serrata

  A familiar US street tree in the same elm family. Hemiptelea was once placed in the zelkova genus as Zelkova davidii, but its thorns and one-sided winged fruit set it apart.