Thread: Slippery (red) elm?

I think this is red elm- cut today. Most the leaves are kind of small for red elm but maybe it's too early in the growing season. The largest leaves definately have the "sandpaper feel". What do you say? Red or more Siberian?

How did it split ?

Originally Posted by ShaneLogs

How did it split ?

A bit stringy. Not near as bad as some American Elm I've run into though.

I appears to be Red Elm to me.

Do the leaves feel thick? About twice the thickness of a American Elm.

My neighbor has a big weed (Siberian Elm) growing in his pasture across the road from me that he refuses to get rid of.
I walked over and grabbed a couple leaves from it and a couple leaves from an American Elm in my yard.
Sorry, I can't reach any of the leaves on the Red Elms in my woodlot so I borrowed an image from Google Images.

Notice the course tooth edges and how pronounced the asymmetrical base is on the American Elm.
The Siberian Elm leaf is small... that's as big as they get on the whole tree.





Slippery (Red) Elm



If you look back at your pictures you'll notice that one of your leaves is a "classic" example of a Slippery Elm leaf... The pointed tip, medium-course toothed edges, slightly asymmetrical base, not quite as dark as the American Elm leaf. I'm reasonably sure that there tree of yours is a Red Elm.

Looks like red elm to me.
The leaf sure goes a long way to help id.
I'm no red elm expert though, not many in my area.

Ahhhh don't split it yet.
Keep it in firewood length rounds in a windy dry spot until the bark starts to seperate then split.
Better firewood and easier to split at that time.
I wait until the ends are heavily checked then just split on the check line.

+1 for red elm.

some of the best wood ive ever burnt. had one in my woods that was dead for 10 years or better. it was leaned into another tree and had no bark so i figured it was shot. cut into it one day and i couldnt belive how hard and good the wood was still. bout 24in round, totally black on the outside and a deep dark red inside. given my experience with american elm i agree on the let it sit in logs as well

Well that is good news. I have a lot more red elm and lot less Siberian than I thought. I've just got to remember the siberian leaves are much smaller and usually full of bug holes. In fact I think I'll just leave the siberains for the final lot clearing crew.

Good advice on the spltting, I only split one round because someone asked how it split... I know it will split better once seasoned a bit in the round.

Originally Posted by haveawoody

Looks like red elm to me.
The leaf sure goes a long way to help id.
I'm no red elm expert though, not many in my area.

Ahhhh don't split it yet.
Keep it in firewood length rounds in a windy dry spot until the bark starts to seperate then split.
Better firewood and easier to split at that time.
I wait until the ends are heavily checked then just split on the check line.

3fordasho,

Your most welcome.
And glad you only split one piece, your red elm is pretty great firewood.
I put it right up with red oak for heat, burn time and coals.

Ahh you are an elm master already
You would be shocked at how many people struggle through green elm and then end up with just ok firewood that looks like a pulp factory. LOL


I think your decision on the siberian is a good one.
Nasty to split and at best just ok firewood, and thats after round curing.
Split green it's much like box elder.

I vote Red Elm also.

Yesterday I cut down a smaller siberian elm that was with in 10ft of the red elm pictured in this thread. Siberian because it sported the much smaller elm leaf with symmetrical base, non-sandpapery feel. I was curious if I could see any difference in the cut ends of the rounds.... I really could not see any difference. So if you don't have leaves to identify, you are SOL.

Here's a clue... although it doesn't always hold 100% true depending on the size and probably a bunch of other factors.

Normally the outer lighter colored ring of wood is somewhat thicker on a Siberian Elm.
The dark heartwood of the Slippery Elm covers something over 3/4's of the round, whereas the the Siberian Elm heartwood is something less than 3/4's of the round.

Something else I've noticed, like box elder, siberian elm is more likely to have damage. Large fallen branches, dead sections, other signs that come due the weaker nature of a weed tree. Also the red elms tend to grow staighter with a very tight vase like shape at the top. The siberians are kind of all over the place but can have the vase like shape, just not as much as the red elm.

Originally Posted by Whitespider

Here's a clue... although it doesn't always hold 100% true depending on the size and probably a bunch of other factors.

Normally the outer lighter colored ring of wood is somewhat thicker on a Siberian Elm.
The dark heartwood of the Slippery Elm covers something over 3/4's of the round, whereas the the Siberian Elm heartwood is something less than 3/4's of the round.