Watching again a year later. You’re the best tree guy on RUclips that I know of. I’d love to take a walk with you. I’d learn more in one day than in a year of my own studies.
Thanks for watching Kara. I recorded a similar video on identifying these Elms when the have their foliage. 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' can also be found on this channel. Best wishes
Thanks for watching and glad you found this video useful. I added to this winter study of the elms last summer with a video titled 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' which looks at the leaves and bark of these trees and trees with similar features. Good luck
Thanks for the informative video! The American Elm and the Slippery Elm were two trees that I was not super familiar with. Now I will go out and try to find them in my woods! :)
Thanks for watching... keep an eye on the ground for those chocolate colored leaves. If you spot some there should be a Slippery Elm nearby. American elm leaves are not quite as dark but their unique shape makes them easy to spot on the ground while hiking this time of year. Good luck.
So the key to finding the elms is the bottom land. I'm a morel Hunter so I'm always looking for elms and when I find them they are, as you point out, located in bottom land. Very informative.
Thanks for watching Jim. Yes both these Elms are commonly found in the moist soils of the river valleys here in the mid Ohio valley. I do find them scattered in upland woods and old fields that are going back to woods but less often. Good luck with your mushroom hunting!
Thanks for watching! I plan on doing more with these elms on this channel in the spring after leaf out. I will keep my eyes peeled for morels while doing so.
Hey Feral Foraging, I just noticed a request from you in my inbox to use a clip from this video. When I clicked on the request it bounced back to this earlier comment. If using part of the 'American Elm and Slippery Elm winter identification' video from this channel will help your cause feel free to do so. Good Luck
Just watched this video once again ! Lol! This time ,I really picked up on the marks the bark beetle leaves on the Slippery Elms. Also the dark chocolate color of the leaves and the silica giving it a rough texture! I live in a heavily wooded region and we have had so many standing dead slippery elms it is crazy! Entire sections of bark just fall off! I would love to spend some time looking at trees with you ,to pick up on your vast knowledge ! Thanks once more!
Thank you for watching Greg. I am always amazed at how all of the bark falls off dead Slippery Elms and lays on the ground in a pile for years. I recorded such a tree for the Summer Elm Identification video on this channel. I think a Spring Elm Identification video for this channel would be in order as these are often the first trees to flower, often in March. Family commitments have me in an area where these Elms are less common so I will have to find a park where I could record them in the spring. They were found in every park that I hiked when living in Ohio, especially ones with bottomlands with younger forests. I will let you know if I am able to travel through your area in the future and would be glad to offer my insights on your woodlands. Best wishes
Thanks for watching Kendal...Slippery Elm leaves are slow to decay so they can be used in the spring to help identify these trees. Also the upper branches on the Slippery Elms here in southwest Ohio are currently covered with thousands of conspicuous fruits called samaras. They are light green in color and really make it easy to tell these trees from their neighbors. Good Luck
Great video,I watch lots of tree ID videos and you included a lot of nice extras that others leave out ! I learned about Elm the hard way,trying to split it by hand . The worst kind was twisty and gnarly grain ,almost impossible to split without a machine .Terrible to burn ,its like lighting concrete on fire ! Then there is another Elm I have a lot of, I call it faux oak .It looks so much like red oak except the smell is not oak and the Rays are so prominent and definitive on the end grain ,I can now pick that characteristic out a mile away . Also the wavy gravy growth rings . This Elm burns good ,unlike the twisty grainy Elm .I ve also came across a 3 rd type Elm that has a very thick soft white pulpy wood between the bark and the heart wood .It almost is like cork texture on the outer white wood and the inner wood is very hard and tan color . It drives me crazy how much variance there is between them . One of them has a soft outer bark that you can sink your thumbnail into deeply ,the other two have very hard bark . Trying to learn all I can about trees ,I am in the woods daily cutting firewood & dropping dangerous rotted trees for friends . I would love to walk the acreage that I care for and pick your brain on the trees there .Thanks for your videos .Appreciated greatly !
Thanks for watching Greg! I have cut, split, and worked with the wood from many of the trees on this channel but not Elm. I guess that is the reason it is never included in the mix of woods sold as firewood or as hardwood lumber for woodworking. Slippery and American Elms are the trees I have found commonly in my travels but there are several other species of Elm with which I am less familiar. Both the Slippery and American Elms will have seeds soon that resemble flying saucers. The seeds from the Slippery Elm are 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter...the American Elm fruits are about half that size. If you need help with identifying the trees on your land I am glad to help but am limited in my time to travel far from Southern New England due to family commitments. You are welcome to send photos of trees you need help with to barkinrighttree@gmail.com. Good Luck!
Just fopund your channel and love it! Thanks. There is one tree here in VA that I always get confused by that looks like the Elm (in the wintertime) and that is the Boxelder.
Thanks for watching! Box Elder does often grow in bottomlands and old pastures like Elm. They both can have furrowed bark but Box Elder does have opposite branching while Elm is staggered or alternating. If you can see the new growth on the trees the Elm has a zigzag pattern while Box Elder grows straight and is usually green in color. Best wishes
Thanks for watching...alot of the trees I have recorded for this channel in the Ohio Valley extend west into the Great Plains, especially along the river valleys. Best wishes!
Thanks for watching...I did find a half dozen Morel mushrooms last week near where I shot this video. Our soils are a little cool and dry right now in Warren County but I would expect more Morels next week with much warmer temps forecast. Good Luck
I work for a tree service. When I seen the tree at the beginning before you talked about it, I was thinking to myself, “oh no, he’s about to call a Hackberry an Elm...” I made this comment at this point and I have yet to watch the whole video. LOL. I’m eager to see what you have to say. And thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching...Working for a tree service I am sure you know your trees thoroughly. I did introduce this video on elms with hackberry because there is some similarity in the bark and both often grow in bottomlands and old pastures that are reverting back to woodland. Until recently hackberry was classified in the elm family but as a recent viewer pointed out it is now in the same family as hemp and hops. Good luck
I am in park city, KY. I have literally, hundreds of elm saplings coming up all over my land. We just moved here. Not sure if they are slippery or American. But they have the strangest formation. Center “trunk”. With branches alternating on only two sides. So it is, in a sense, flat. If you understand what I am trying to describe. I don’t know what to do about them. Also, hundreds of black locust. I know they are great for fence posts, and even firewood. Just trying to figure out what to do with these elms! What a great hint! Leafcolor! That might be how I can figure out these trees! THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks for watching! I have often found American Elm seedlings to be very common in abandoned farmland starting to revert to woods. On the contrary I have found Slippery Elm seedlings growing in areas that have been forested for many generations. I added a summer identification video for these trees to this channel last year that may help you identify your elms in a few months when they have leafed out. Meanwhile the large chocolate-brown leaves of Slippery Elm are slow to decay so you should be able to find them if you trees are Slippery Elms. Mother Nature will naturally thin out the Elms over time but you could thin the stand yourself to speed up this process. Black Locust has alot of benefits but can also be very aggressive so some thinning of those trees may be beneficial. Good Luck
I live in Dayton Ohio and I'm so surprised how often I see Hackberry tree's even in the city. I'm so excited because Hackberry makes amazing bonsai tree's! I'm Particularly interested in finding hornbeam tree's around are are area. If you have any leads I'm interested. I haven't seen but two growing naturally in the Dayton Ohio area both in Englewood dam Park.
Thank You for watching! I hiked most of the trails in the 5 Rivers metroparks over the years and can probably help you find American Hornbeam (Musclewood) and Eastern Hop Hornbeam. First you need to look in mixed hardwood forests that are free of invasive honeysuckle, multiflora rose and other non native plants that make it hard for native understory trees to thrive. Young forests of Ash, Red Maple and Red Cedar often don't have any hornbeam but if you look in woods with larger trees like the Oaks, Sugar Maple, the Hickories and Beech you will often find them. I found both species of Hornbeam at Twin Creek Metropark in older woods on hillsides. I also found them in similar woods at Fort Ancient, Caesar Creek and Halls Creek in Warren County Ohio. Englewood Metropark has alot of honeysuckle so that would explain the lack of Hornbeams there. There are 3 videos on Hornbeam bark and foliage on this channel. I recorded them in 2019 so they are down near the bottom of the list of videos if you sort them with most recent at the top of the list. Best Luck with your bosai!
One of the other problems with Dutch Elm Disease is that it also spread from tree to tree along root grafts. When they were planted ornamentally, they grew large to the point that the roots from nearby trees would meet and graft together. Then, when one would get infected, the whole lot would get wiped out. It was devastating.
Thanks for watching Aaron and sharing this information. I can't say I have seen too many live Ornamental Elms in my travels. I am currently working on another Elm video using bark, foliage and form for ID during the growing season and will post it in a few weeks. Good Luck
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 by ornamentals, I am referring more to what my parents (born in the 50s, Green Bay, WI) grew up with. It was still Ulmus americana, nothing exotic. They said nearly every street was lined with them. Huge trees, all dead, by the thousand. They were wonderful trees because their natural vase-like shape would arch nicely over the streets. www.gazettextra.com/blogs/staff/then_and_now/then-and-now-dutch-elm-disease/article_fd1f3021-8330-5952-8cfd-0a2ec22120e4.html
After Dutch Elm, we used ash heavily as a replacement. Then Emerald Ash Borer came. With so many ash trees around, they spread very easily. As a society, we've been getting a very hard lesson on the importance of diversity in an ecosystem. Not only does it prevent everything from being wiped out by a single pathogen, it also spaces out (social distancing 😆) individuals or groups of a given species.
Thanks for sharing this article Aaron. What incredible beauty in those planted Elms. I do regularily find large American Elms in the bottomlands but rarely do they acheive the graceful form of those street trees.
A year older ,hopefully wiser I have gained a lot more Elm info ,I think! Lol! There is a type of tree in Southwest Pa here that just falls over dead ,the wood is very light weight like balsa wood ,upper branches can be punky! It has a very light colored papery bark on upper limbs and grey furrowed bark on main trunk near the base. When you split the wood the outer pulp will break off like a shell of a nut ,with the inner live wood almost being stringy ,harder. Like 2 different trees in the same tree. I had come to believe this tree was a balsam Poplar and yesterday I discovered that this lightweight tree is most definitely an American Elm,from the spring emerging buds the tree was loaded with when it fell over in high wind. It has the football shaped buds and the long stemmed pinkish flowers on the buds . Some of them still have the fuzzy covering ,pussy willow esque ! So,looking in a very good book I purchased at an Audubon Store on Tree Identification ,it matches every category for the American Elm. Therefore ,the other Elm Tree that I find a lot of here is most likely Slippery Elm,Red Elm! It is the tree that the wood resembles Red Oak in so many ways only the smell can discern it for me without having a leaf to identify. The Red Elm. Burns long,makes a lot of heat . Is a very hard wood indeed. The American Elm is the lightest weight wood I have ever encountered. An entire large branch can just snap like a twig . I believe I run across some hybrid elms also ! I read where many species of Elm were blended to try and achieve blight resistance .They seem to share characteristics of both trees in one . Thanks for your videos again ,I learn more every time I rewatch them!
Thanks for watching Gina...yes the bark of the American Elm shown in this video was very soft and extremely lightweight when I broke off the small chunks to identify these trees. The Slippery Elm bark, in contrast, was much firmer and very similar in appearance to that of a Sugar Maple.
Both hackberry trees with the exaggerated bark and hackberry trees without it are on our property. And some of the hackberry trees have small branches growing in every direction, mostly in the lower section of it. I'm not talking about witches' brooms; I know what that looks like. So far no one has been able to identify these trees. Can anyone tell me what this is? I can send a photo if you are interested.
Thank you for watching! There is close cousin to Hackberry called Sugarberry which has similar features to Hackberry except it has smoother bark. Sugarberry is found from the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers southward while Hackberry ranges further north. Their ranges do overlap in parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri so if you live in that area you could have both on your property. There is also a species called Dwarf Hackberry which has bark similar to Hackberry but remains short and twisted. I am only familiar with Hackberry so I am not sure how much help I can be with identifying these trees with photos but I am willing to try. Photos and email correspondence for this channel can be sent to barkinrighttree@gmail.com. Good Luck
Thank you for the updated info Devin...I know taxonomy is an evolving science! My sources showed hackberry in the Elm family so I will correct this in my next video on Elms this spring. Thanks for watching
Thanks for watching Aaron and offering your knowledge on taxonomy! I am currently working on Black and Sugar Maples and have yet to find concensus on whether they are the same species. Good Luck
Thanks for watching Kevin...definitely easy to tell these Elms apart by their bark. American Elm is much spongier and is corky enough it could be used as a fishing bobber. Pitch Pine gets epicormic shoots in response to fire but I am unaware of the reason they form on American Elm. I did add a second video on these Elms to this channel during the growing season last year 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' with leaf and bark comparisons. Happy mushroom hunting!
I certainly agree Kevin...it retains those cardboard looking ridges from a sapling to the largest specimens. Some larger trees on the floodplains can approach the cottonwoods in size.
Thanks for watching Cody. Tulip Poplars have some unique features for winter ID. The most obvious is how straight and tall they can grow (see 'Tulip Poplar seeds and winter appearance' on this channel). And because they are often found in recently logged or cleared areas I have a short video 'Tulip Poplar immature bark' that illustrates the distinct branch scars found on young Tulip Poplar trees. If it is helpful many of the videos on this channel with winter or early spring appeareance in their titles use bark, buds and the remains of leaves and nuts on the ground to help with identification. Also many of the videos made in the summer show features like bark and nuts that can be used for winter ID. Good Luck!
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 thanks a lot! I’ve been very interested in learning my trees and you have a great informative way of teaching them. Thank you. I’ll check out the other videos
as all plants get older, they produce less sugar and become susceptible to insect attack. That's why the younger trees aren't affected as much. No one talks about this. I have seen it in every plant I have ever tested over more than a decade.
Thank you for watching...most Elms seem to follow this pattern but I was never aware of the reason. Younger Green and White Ash also are less affected by the Emerald Ash Borer. Thank you for this insight.
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 Poplar is the same when it comes to the caterpillars. They attack the older trees and don't touch the young ones that are healthier.
Thanks for watching! I did find a couple dozen morels near the Slippery Elms in this video. If they haven't already, American and Slippery Elms should start flowering soon. I did not have a chance to record the flowers or fruits of these trees yet but did record their leaves last summer. 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' looks at the bark and foliage of these elms. Good Luck
Thanks for watching David...yes the thicker chunks of American Elm bark have multiple layers like a Kit Kat bar. Thanks for the new analogy...teaching is always the most effective when it relates to one's own experience (and snack food preferences).
Watching again a year later. You’re the best tree guy on RUclips that I know of. I’d love to take a walk with you. I’d learn more in one day than in a year of my own studies.
This is so thorough and such helpful information, thank you 🙏
Thanks for watching Kara. I recorded a similar video on identifying these Elms when the have their foliage. 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' can also be found on this channel. Best wishes
What a fantastic video chock-full of useful knowledge. One of the best ID vids I've ever seen! Thanks so much for the great lesson.
Thanks for watching and glad you found this video useful. I added to this winter study of the elms last summer with a video titled 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' which looks at the leaves and bark of these trees and trees with similar features. Good luck
Thanks for the informative video! The American Elm and the Slippery Elm were two trees that I was not super familiar with. Now I will go out and try to find them in my woods! :)
Thanks for watching... keep an eye on the ground for those chocolate colored leaves. If you spot some there should be a Slippery Elm nearby. American elm leaves are not quite as dark but their unique shape makes them easy to spot on the ground while hiking this time of year. Good luck.
So the key to finding the elms is the bottom land. I'm a morel Hunter so I'm always looking for elms and when I find them they are, as you point out, located in bottom land. Very informative.
Thanks for watching Jim. Yes both these Elms are commonly found in the moist soils of the river valleys here in the mid Ohio valley. I do find them scattered in upland woods and old fields that are going back to woods but less often. Good luck with your mushroom hunting!
Great video, friend. Very thorough! Much appreciated.
Thanks for watching! I plan on doing more with these elms on this channel in the spring after leaf out. I will keep my eyes peeled for morels while doing so.
Hey Feral Foraging, I just noticed a request from you in my inbox to use a clip from this video. When I clicked on the request it bounced back to this earlier comment. If using part of the 'American Elm and Slippery Elm winter identification' video from this channel will help your cause feel free to do so. Good Luck
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 thanks very much!
Just watched this video once again ! Lol! This time ,I really picked up on the marks the bark beetle leaves on the Slippery Elms. Also the dark chocolate color of the leaves and the silica giving it a rough texture! I live in a heavily wooded region and we have had so many standing dead slippery elms it is crazy! Entire sections of bark just fall off! I would love to spend some time looking at trees with you ,to pick up on your vast knowledge ! Thanks once more!
Thank you for watching Greg. I am always amazed at how all of the bark falls off dead Slippery Elms and lays on the ground in a pile for years. I recorded such a tree for the Summer Elm Identification video on this channel. I think a Spring Elm Identification video for this channel would be in order as these are often the first trees to flower, often in March. Family commitments have me in an area where these Elms are less common so I will have to find a park where I could record them in the spring. They were found in every park that I hiked when living in Ohio, especially ones with bottomlands with younger forests. I will let you know if I am able to travel through your area in the future and would be glad to offer my insights on your woodlands. Best wishes
Excellent video! I'm going out tomorrow in area that's just cluttered with leaf litter. This helps so much now! Thank you, kindly sir!
Thanks for watching Kendal...Slippery Elm leaves are slow to decay so they can be used in the spring to help identify these trees. Also the upper branches on the Slippery Elms here in southwest Ohio are currently covered with thousands of conspicuous fruits called samaras. They are light green in color and really make it easy to tell these trees from their neighbors. Good Luck
Great video,I watch lots of tree ID videos and you included a lot of nice extras that others leave out ! I learned about Elm the hard way,trying to split it by hand . The worst kind was twisty and gnarly grain ,almost impossible to split without a machine .Terrible to burn ,its like lighting concrete on fire ! Then there is another Elm I have a lot of, I call it faux oak .It looks so much like red oak except the smell is not oak and the Rays are so prominent and definitive on the end grain ,I can now pick that characteristic out a mile away . Also the wavy gravy growth rings . This Elm burns good ,unlike the twisty grainy Elm .I ve also came across a 3 rd type Elm that has a very thick soft white pulpy wood between the bark and the heart wood .It almost is like cork texture on the outer white wood and the inner wood is very hard and tan color . It drives me crazy how much variance there is between them . One of them has a soft outer bark that you can sink your thumbnail into deeply ,the other two have very hard bark . Trying to learn all I can about trees ,I am in the woods daily cutting firewood & dropping dangerous rotted trees for friends . I would love to walk the acreage that I care for and pick your brain on the trees there .Thanks for your videos .Appreciated greatly !
Thanks for watching Greg! I have cut, split, and worked with the wood from many of the trees on this channel but not Elm. I guess that is the reason it is never included in the mix of woods sold as firewood or as hardwood lumber for woodworking. Slippery and American Elms are the trees I have found commonly in my travels but there are several other species of Elm with which I am less familiar. Both the Slippery and American Elms will have seeds soon that resemble flying saucers. The seeds from the Slippery Elm are 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter...the American Elm fruits are about half that size. If you need help with identifying the trees on your land I am glad to help but am limited in my time to travel far from Southern New England due to family commitments. You are welcome to send photos of trees you need help with to barkinrighttree@gmail.com. Good Luck!
Just fopund your channel and love it! Thanks. There is one tree here in VA that I always get confused by that looks like the Elm (in the wintertime) and that is the Boxelder.
Thanks for watching! Box Elder does often grow in bottomlands and old pastures like Elm. They both can have furrowed bark but Box Elder does have opposite branching while Elm is staggered or alternating. If you can see the new growth on the trees the Elm has a zigzag pattern while Box Elder grows straight and is usually green in color. Best wishes
Thanks for the reply. People like you are why I use RUclips.
Love the channel! We have alot of hackberry here in Nebraska.
Thanks for watching...alot of the trees I have recorded for this channel in the Ohio Valley extend west into the Great Plains, especially along the river valleys. Best wishes!
Great explanation and examples, my first time hunting Morels in NE Ohio i just want to find one at least haha, thank you for a proper video!
Thanks for watching...I did find a half dozen Morel mushrooms last week near where I shot this video. Our soils are a little cool and dry right now in Warren County but I would expect more Morels next week with much warmer temps forecast. Good Luck
I work for a tree service. When I seen the tree at the beginning before you talked about it, I was thinking to myself, “oh no, he’s about to call a Hackberry an Elm...”
I made this comment at this point and I have yet to watch the whole video. LOL. I’m eager to see what you have to say. And thank you for the video.
Thanks for watching...Working for a tree service I am sure you know your trees thoroughly. I did introduce this video on elms with hackberry because there is some similarity in the bark and both often grow in bottomlands and old pastures that are reverting back to woodland. Until recently hackberry was classified in the elm family but as a recent viewer pointed out it is now in the same family as hemp and hops. Good luck
I am in park city, KY. I have literally, hundreds of elm saplings coming up all over my land. We just moved here. Not sure if they are slippery or American. But they have the strangest formation. Center “trunk”. With branches alternating on only two sides. So it is, in a sense, flat. If you understand what I am trying to describe. I don’t know what to do about them. Also, hundreds of black locust. I know they are great for fence posts, and even firewood. Just trying to figure out what to do with these elms!
What a great hint! Leafcolor! That might be how I can figure out these trees! THANK YOU!!!!
Thanks for watching! I have often found American Elm seedlings to be very common in abandoned farmland starting to revert to woods. On the contrary I have found Slippery Elm seedlings growing in areas that have been forested for many generations. I added a summer identification video for these trees to this channel last year that may help you identify your elms in a few months when they have leafed out. Meanwhile the large chocolate-brown leaves of Slippery Elm are slow to decay so you should be able to find them if you trees are Slippery Elms. Mother Nature will naturally thin out the Elms over time but you could thin the stand yourself to speed up this process. Black Locust has alot of benefits but can also be very aggressive so some thinning of those trees may be beneficial. Good Luck
thank you for the informative video!
Thank You for watching Justin...I plan on adding another video to this channel on these elms once they are leafed out in May.
So glad I found your channel
Very nice descriptions, t
hank you.
Thanks for watching Carolyn...many of these elms are starting to flower in early spring!
This is a great video thank you
Thank you for watching...those slippery elm leaves which are falling this time of year are slow to decay and easy to identify in early winter.
I live in Dayton Ohio and I'm so surprised how often I see Hackberry tree's even in the city. I'm so excited because Hackberry makes amazing bonsai tree's! I'm Particularly interested in finding hornbeam tree's around are are area. If you have any leads I'm interested. I haven't seen but two growing naturally in the Dayton Ohio area both in Englewood dam Park.
Thank You for watching! I hiked most of the trails in the 5 Rivers metroparks over the years and can probably help you find American Hornbeam (Musclewood) and Eastern Hop Hornbeam. First you need to look in mixed hardwood forests that are free of invasive honeysuckle, multiflora rose and other non native plants that make it hard for native understory trees to thrive. Young forests of Ash, Red Maple and Red Cedar often don't have any hornbeam but if you look in woods with larger trees like the Oaks, Sugar Maple, the Hickories and Beech you will often find them. I found both species of Hornbeam at Twin Creek Metropark in older woods on hillsides. I also found them in similar woods at Fort Ancient, Caesar Creek and Halls Creek in Warren County Ohio. Englewood Metropark has alot of honeysuckle so that would explain the lack of Hornbeams there. There are 3 videos on Hornbeam bark and foliage on this channel. I recorded them in 2019 so they are down near the bottom of the list of videos if you sort them with most recent at the top of the list. Best Luck with your bosai!
One of the other problems with Dutch Elm Disease is that it also spread from tree to tree along root grafts. When they were planted ornamentally, they grew large to the point that the roots from nearby trees would meet and graft together. Then, when one would get infected, the whole lot would get wiped out. It was devastating.
Thanks for watching Aaron and sharing this information. I can't say I have seen too many live Ornamental Elms in my travels. I am currently working on another Elm video using bark, foliage and form for ID during the growing season and will post it in a few weeks. Good Luck
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 by ornamentals, I am referring more to what my parents (born in the 50s, Green Bay, WI) grew up with. It was still Ulmus americana, nothing exotic. They said nearly every street was lined with them. Huge trees, all dead, by the thousand. They were wonderful trees because their natural vase-like shape would arch nicely over the streets.
www.gazettextra.com/blogs/staff/then_and_now/then-and-now-dutch-elm-disease/article_fd1f3021-8330-5952-8cfd-0a2ec22120e4.html
After Dutch Elm, we used ash heavily as a replacement. Then Emerald Ash Borer came. With so many ash trees around, they spread very easily. As a society, we've been getting a very hard lesson on the importance of diversity in an ecosystem. Not only does it prevent everything from being wiped out by a single pathogen, it also spaces out (social distancing 😆) individuals or groups of a given species.
Thanks for sharing this article Aaron. What incredible beauty in those planted Elms. I do regularily find large American Elms in the bottomlands but rarely do they acheive the graceful form of those street trees.
I'm a local I know where you're at LoL beautiful place!!
Lots of Elm in those bottomlands and mushrooms in the spring
A year older ,hopefully wiser I have gained a lot more Elm info ,I think! Lol! There is a type of tree in Southwest Pa here that just falls over dead ,the wood is very light weight like balsa wood ,upper branches can be punky! It has a very light colored papery bark on upper limbs and grey furrowed bark on main trunk near the base. When you split the wood the outer pulp will break off like a shell of a nut ,with the inner live wood almost being stringy ,harder. Like 2 different trees in the same tree. I had come to believe this tree was a balsam Poplar and yesterday I discovered that this lightweight tree is most definitely an American Elm,from the spring emerging buds the tree was loaded with when it fell over in high wind. It has the football shaped buds and the long stemmed pinkish flowers on the buds . Some of them still have the fuzzy covering ,pussy willow esque ! So,looking in a very good book I purchased at an Audubon Store on Tree Identification ,it matches every category for the American Elm.
Therefore ,the other Elm Tree that I find a lot of here is most likely Slippery Elm,Red Elm! It is the tree that the wood resembles Red Oak in so many ways only the smell can discern it for me without having a leaf to identify. The Red Elm. Burns long,makes a lot of heat . Is a very hard wood indeed. The American Elm is the lightest weight wood I have ever encountered. An entire large branch can just snap like a twig . I believe I run across some hybrid elms also ! I read where many species of Elm were blended to try and achieve blight resistance .They seem to share characteristics of both trees in one . Thanks for your videos again ,I learn more every time I rewatch them!
Well done
Is the bark of elm trees spongy or sort of soft when you press into it ?
Thanks for watching Gina...yes the bark of the American Elm shown in this video was very soft and extremely lightweight when I broke off the small chunks to identify these trees. The Slippery Elm bark, in contrast, was much firmer and very similar in appearance to that of a Sugar Maple.
Those fine branches are what were known as 'switches' ...and you didn't want to get switched!
Dutch elm disease is also transmitted by invasive elm bark beetles.
Thank you for watching and for the additional information!
Both hackberry trees with the exaggerated bark and hackberry trees without it are on our property. And some of the hackberry trees have small branches growing in every direction, mostly in the lower section of it. I'm not talking about witches' brooms; I know what that looks like. So far no one has been able to identify these trees. Can anyone tell me what this is? I can send a photo if you are interested.
Thank you for watching! There is close cousin to Hackberry called Sugarberry which has similar features to Hackberry except it has smoother bark. Sugarberry is found from the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers southward while Hackberry ranges further north. Their ranges do overlap in parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri so if you live in that area you could have both on your property. There is also a species called Dwarf Hackberry which has bark similar to Hackberry but remains short and twisted. I am only familiar with Hackberry so I am not sure how much help I can be with identifying these trees with photos but I am willing to try. Photos and email correspondence for this channel can be sent to barkinrighttree@gmail.com. Good Luck
Isn't hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) now in the cannabis (Cannabaceae) family?
Thank you for the updated info Devin...I know taxonomy is an evolving science! My sources showed hackberry in the Elm family so I will correct this in my next video on Elms this spring. Thanks for watching
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 yeah, molecular data is wreaking havoc with our taurine classifications.
Thanks for watching Aaron and offering your knowledge on taxonomy! I am currently working on Black and Sugar Maples and have yet to find concensus on whether they are the same species. Good Luck
For me, American elm is easy to identify as the often have those epicormic shoots, and the bark is spongy to the touch. Slippery elm a little harder.
Thanks for watching Kevin...definitely easy to tell these Elms apart by their bark. American Elm is much spongier and is corky enough it could be used as a fishing bobber. Pitch Pine gets epicormic shoots in response to fire but I am unaware of the reason they form on American Elm. I did add a second video on these Elms to this channel during the growing season last year 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' with leaf and bark comparisons. Happy mushroom hunting!
Hackberry is one of the easiest to pick out for newbies.
I certainly agree Kevin...it retains those cardboard looking ridges from a sapling to the largest specimens. Some larger trees on the floodplains can approach the cottonwoods in size.
Love this. I'm in Ohio too ❤
Thanks for watching! I will revisit these Elms in a few weeks when leaf out is complete.
Can you do more winter tree identification yours is very informative. How about poplar or tulip trees?
Thanks for watching Cody. Tulip Poplars have some unique features for winter ID. The most obvious is how straight and tall they can grow (see 'Tulip Poplar seeds and winter appearance' on this channel). And because they are often found in recently logged or cleared areas I have a short video 'Tulip Poplar immature bark' that illustrates the distinct branch scars found on young Tulip Poplar trees. If it is helpful many of the videos on this channel with winter or early spring appeareance in their titles use bark, buds and the remains of leaves and nuts on the ground to help with identification. Also many of the videos made in the summer show features like bark and nuts that can be used for winter ID. Good Luck!
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 thanks a lot! I’ve been very interested in learning my trees and you have a great informative way of teaching them. Thank you. I’ll check out the other videos
as all plants get older, they produce less sugar and become susceptible to insect attack. That's why the younger trees aren't affected as much. No one talks about this. I have seen it in every plant I have ever tested over more than a decade.
Thank you for watching...most Elms seem to follow this pattern but I was never aware of the reason. Younger Green and White Ash also are less affected by the Emerald Ash Borer. Thank you for this insight.
@@barkinuptherighttree4698 Poplar is the same when it comes to the caterpillars. They attack the older trees and don't touch the young ones that are healthier.
I bet you find munches of Morel Mushrooms? That's why I'm trying to learn my Elm Trees
Thanks for watching! I did find a couple dozen morels near the Slippery Elms in this video. If they haven't already, American and Slippery Elms should start flowering soon. I did not have a chance to record the flowers or fruits of these trees yet but did record their leaves last summer. 'American Elm and Slippery Elm summer identification' looks at the bark and foliage of these elms. Good Luck
More like KitKat bar to me ...
Thanks for watching David...yes the thicker chunks of American Elm bark have multiple layers like a Kit Kat bar. Thanks for the new analogy...teaching is always the most effective when it relates to one's own experience (and snack food preferences).
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My profile picture is a slippery elm!
Thanks for watching Marlene ... I plan on adding another video on Elms to this channel in May or June when they have their foliage and fruits.