American elm

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More names for this tree

Anishinaabemowin: Aniib

Dakota: P'e

The Dakota and Anishinaabe were among the earliest people to name Minnesota’s plants and animals, as well as to understand them in relation to Minnesota’s climate and seasons. Those original names are still in use, and several are included on the Season Watch website.

Latin (or scientific name): Ulmus americana

The scientific community has a convention of assigning agreed-upon Latin names to every kind of organism. Using scientific names helps people communicate confidently about the same organism and organize lifeforms based on how closely related they are.

Page contents

About the American elm

Visual guide to phenology

Graphs and historical data

More resources

This large elm towers above the viewer and its great canopy contrasts against a blue sky.
American elm tree
September 13, 2022, Ramsey County, Minnesota
Photo © Russo, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
iNaturalist observation

About the American elm

  • The American elm is a deciduous tree that grows throughout Minnesota. Individual trees can live up to 300 years.
  • This tree can grow up to 125 feet tall, but typically grows fifty to seventy feet tall.
  • The elm’s flowers, which have no petals, arrive in clusters in the early spring.
  • Their ovate leaves have an uneven base and serrated margins. Every year, new leaves appear after flowers.
  • In summer, elm fruits, called samaras, mature and turn from green to a papery brown.
  • Elm leaves turn bright yellow in fall.
  • Fun fact: Populations of American elms have been significantly hurt by Dutch elm disease.

Visual guide to elm phenology

Watch for the appearance of leaves, flowers, and fruits. Take notice of when flowers open and fruits ripen.

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Note to observers

This page explains general clues to watch for when observing American elm phenology. However, this page does not instruct observers on how to identify this plant or collect data in a standardized way.

Close-up photo showing buds on a twig of the American elm. The buds are dark red and rusty colored.
Open flowers of the American Elm are seen here against a bare tree canopy and a blue sky. Colors of the flowers include bright greenish-yellow and dark red.
An elm twig with spent flowers that are shriveled and dark brown. At each spent flower location, brilliant yellow-green fruits are beginning to develop.
Unfripe fruits are present and their brilliant lime-yellow color contrast against the mostly tan and leafless backdrop.
About four bright green leaves are in focus. Also present are clusters of greenish-yellow fruits.
Looking up at the canopy, sunlight filters through green leaves of the elm tree.
This photo shows yellow-green leaves of an elm tree in fall.
This residential scene features an elm tree with no leaves on its branches.

Graphs and historical data

Note: The Orientation Center provides a map, as well as information on reading graphs; interpreting summary statistics, who collected the data and how; and how to download datasets for independent exploration.


Ramsey County

Flowering

  • Earliest: March 20 (occurred in 1987)
  • Average: April 12
  • Latest: May 3 (occurred in 1950)
Scatterplot showing American elm phenology observations in Ramsey County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

Leaf budbreak

  • Earliest: April 10 (occurred in 1987)
  • Average: April 27
  • Latest: May 15 and 14 (occurred in 1950 and 1956)
Scatterplot showing American elm phenology observations in Ramsey County, Minnesota

Download this dataset (.csv file)

More resources

American elm (Ulmus americana) in the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas

American elm (Ulmus americana) in Nature's Notebook

American elm (Ulmus americana) profile by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

 

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Keep exploring Season Watch

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Times of year

Co-author: Lynsey Nass, Minnesota Master Naturalist