Ulmus parvifolia
Chinese elm, lacebark elm, Lacebark Elm
Family: Ulmaceae · Type: tree · Not Native
Chinese elm is a naturalized tree found in central coastal California, southwestern California, the Mojave Desert, and western desert regions along streams, springs, wetlands, roadsides, and disturbed areas at elevations of 10 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from August to October, this tree produces small flowers with subtle coloration in autumn. Growing up to 25 meters tall with distinctive bark that peels in irregular woody scales 2 to 8 centimeters wide, revealing orange-brown surfaces that weather to ash-gray. Its lance-ovate to narrowly elliptic leaves are 2.5 to 5 centimeters long with obtusely and irregularly serrated margins, glossy green with subtle pubescence along major veins. The fruit is an elliptical to ovate-elliptical samara 1 to 1.3 centimeters long, ranging in color from tan to dark red-brown.
Habitat: Streams, springs, wetlands, roadsides, disturbed areas
Bloom period: Aug-Oct
Elevation: 10-1200 m
Bioregions: CCo, SW, MP, W&I
California counties: Butte, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, Ventura, Orange, El Dorado, Kern, Stanislaus, Santa Barbara, San Mateo, Marin, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Inyo, Lassen, San Luis Obispo
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.