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§1 Plant

Ulmus rubra Muhl.

vernacular slippery elm — species · Ulmaceae

USDA
ULRU
GBIF
5361867
Rank
species
slippery elm (Ulmus rubra)
Platephotograph · Zihao WangCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Ulmaceae Mirb.
Genus
Ulmus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,378 counties across 35 states/territories
Legend Native · 1378 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
High
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-43 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
21–83 in/yr
pH range
5–7.5
Root depth
40 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
85 ft
Height @ 20 y
45 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Winter
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
41,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
Low
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,378 counties across 35 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 30 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 74 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 3 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 33 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 102 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 24 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 63 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 118 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 27 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 33 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 112 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 30 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 5 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 18 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 43 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 24 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 88 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 5 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 9 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 88 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 51 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 35 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ULRU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5361867 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T09:28:40Z