American Elm (Ulmus americana) - Bellefontaine Cemetery - St. Louis, Mo.
Posted by: iconions
N 38° 41.250 W 090° 13.564
15S E 741273 N 4285751
This very stately and impressive elm tree is part of the driving tour in the historic Bellfontaine Cemetery - 4947 West Florissant Avenue in St. Louis, Mo.
Waymark Code: WMM15Z
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/30/2014
Views: 3
The text of the signage near this very impressive Missouri State Champion elm:
"Missouri State Champion Tree
This is to certify that the
American Elm
described below is the largest
known tree of its species in the
state of Missouri recorded by
Forestry Division,
Missouri Department of Conservation
Species: Ulmus americana
Owner: Bellefontaine Cemetery
Nominator: Margaret McCall
Measured by: Perry Eckhardt & Mark Grueber
Date Measured: July 2, 2010
Circumference: 191 inches
Height: 102 feet
Spread: 122 feet
Score: 324 points
County: St. Louis City
Robert L. Ziehmer, Director
Lisa G. Allen, State Forester"
Information on the American Elm from Wikipedia:
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visit link)
"The American elm is a deciduous hermaphroditic tree which, before the advent of Dutch elm disease, commonly grew to > 30 m (100 ft) tall with a trunk > 1.2 m (4 ft) d.b.h supporting a high, spreading umbrella-like canopy. The leaves are alternate, 7–20 cm long, with double-serrate margins and an oblique base. The perfect flowers are small, purple-brown and, being wind-pollinated, apetalous. The flowers are also protogynous, the female parts maturing before the male, thus reducing, but not eliminating, self-fertilization, and emerge in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is a flat samara 2 cm long by 1.5 cm broad, with a circular papery wing surrounding the single 4–5 mm seed. As in the closely related European White Elm Ulmus laevis, the flowers and seeds are borne on 1–3 cm long stems. American Elm is wholly insensitive to daylight length (photoperiod), and will continue to grow well into autumn until injured by frost.
U. americana is unique within the genus in being mostly tetraploid, i.e. having double the usual number of chromosomes (2n = 56)."