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Ulmus glabra

Wych elm

Wych elm, Scots elm (Eng), olmo de montaña (Spa), om, oma (Cat), zugarr, zugarra (Baq), llamagueiro (Glg), olmo silvestre (Por).

Native

DID YOU KNOW...? This elm tree is most abundant in northern Europe.

DESCRIPTION

The wych elm can be up to 40 m tall. It has the largest leaves of any Iberian elm tree, up to 18 cm long and 13.5 cm wide. They are deciduous, simple, alternate, and serrated, with an oval or lanceolate contour, and a very pointed apex, although this is often flanked by two lateral peaks. The base of the leaves is very asymmetrical, and one of the basal lobes usually hides the leaf stalk, which is so small that the leaves seem to sit on the twigs. This tree is wind-pollinated and the flowers are inconspicuous. The fruits appear before the leaves and are dry. They consist of a seed wrapped in a wing-like membrane (samara), to aid their dispersal by the wind.

ECOLOGY

This is a rare tree on the Iberian Peninsula, which is found scattered or in small stands in mixed forests, beech, fir woodlands etc., always in shady environments. It prefers cool, stony soil, at the foot of cliffs and on river banks. It grows from sea level to approximately 1800 m, although in the Serra da Estrela range it reaches altitudes of 2300 m.

DISTRIBUTION

This tree grows across the north of Europe and east as far as the Urals. It lives in the northern third of the peninsula and reaches the Maestrazgo, in the Sistema Ibérico range, and certain points of the Sistema Central. In the south it reaches as far as the mountain ranges of Cazorla, Segura and Calar del Mundo.