Looking down at the front sidewalk this morning you could almost be excused in thinking that it was Autumn. Actually the evenings are only beginning to hint at Autumn and the afternoon temperatures are still in three-digits. What is happening is that stress is causing the cedar elms to lose their leaves.
One of the many good things about cedar elms is the size of their leaves. They are scarcely larger than pennies. Someone once called them “golden coins.” Just sweep them into the grass and they disappear.
Further north though it really is starting to seem like Fall. Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening was talking about maple leaves turning and goldenrods blooming in her last post. I am used to things blooming down here in the south before they do up north. I had to remind myself that this time of year the order is reversed.
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Cedar elms. That’s a new one to me. Have to look it up!
Ulmus crassifolia. According to Robert A Vines in Trees of East Texas “attaining a height of 90 feet with slender, somewhat droopy branches and a narrow or rounded crown. Twigs or branches often with lateral corky wings.”
It’s Latin name comes from the texture of its leaves which feel like coarse sandpaper. The common name may come from the appearance of the bark which slightly resembles that of juniper. It’s a fairly common tree hereabouts. It may have other names in other regions.
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