Ulmus pumila

Siberian elm

Family: Ulmaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Siberian elm is a naturalized tree found in the Sierra Nevada, southwestern California, and Great Basin in streambanks, washes, bottomlands, roadsides, and disturbed areas at elevations of 20 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to April, this tree produces small flowers that emerge before its leaves in early spring. Growing to 25 meters tall with deeply ridged medium gray bark, it features distinctive dark brown or red-brown winter buds that are nearly spherical to oval in shape. Its leaves are ovate to lance-elliptic, 2 to 8 centimeters long with simply or doubly serrate margins, and range from glabrous to lightly pubescent on major veins. The tree produces round to broadly obovate fruit 1 to 2 centimeters wide, which are white to tan in color and appear before the tree's leaves emerge.

Habitat: Streambanks, washes, bottomland, roadsides, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 20-1500 m

Bioregions: SN, SW, GB

California counties: San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Kern, Inyo, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, Sacramento, Alpine, Tulare, Lassen, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, Marin

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.