The Chinese Elm is a deciduous to semi deciduous tree that can attain heights to 50'. Leaves are small at @ 1.5" in length and elliptical to ovate in shape. Young trees have an erect growth habit but with age become spreading and take on a vase like shape. The fruit are small flat, papery samaras that hang in clusters from the leaf axils. Insignificant flowers appear in early autumn and are greenish-yellow in color. Chinese Elms make great shade and street trees and are resistant to pests and disease, including dutch elm disease.

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Really fast growing tree. Seedlings must be kept under control continuously. They pop up everywhere in the yard and garden.

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Lacebark Elm is the better name, but it can be called the True Chinese Elm; a name once confused with the other "Chinese" Elm that is better called the Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila), which is its ugly big sister, though I have seen a few Siberian Elms that look good. Lacebark Elm is usually a smaller medium sized tree of about 25 to 35 feet high, but in the South it can get to 50 feet high or more. The scientific species name is from Latin that is "parvifolia" that means small-leaved. The small leaves are shiny, dark, thick, and only 3/4 to 2.5 inches long by 1/3 to 1.3 inches wide. The fall color can be a good yellow to red-purple, especially in the South, but sometimes it is a poor yellowish-green depending. Unlike most elms, this species flowers in August-September and then fruits in October-November. It is commonly or somewhat commonly planted in the South and Mid-Atlantic USA. I've seen a very few doing well in the Chicago, IL area of Zone 5a. In the Mid-Atlantic I see it planted much more in public landscapes, parks, campuses, and office or industrial parks than in the average homeowner's yard, as landscape architects know it much better than the homeowner. It is sort of twiggy, but it makes a good quality tree. The species is native to China, Korea, and Japan. I have not seen it escape cultivation in the North USA.

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