Elm

Elms are <a href="/facts/Deciduous/7jQHVtdd">deciduous</a> and <a href="/facts/Semi-deciduous/AJ5HXnYR">semi-deciduous</a> trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the family <a href="/facts/Ulmaceae/9daKXGtu">Ulmaceae</a>. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the <a href="/facts/Temperate_climate/6WPypCzC">temperate</a> and <a href="/facts/Tropical_climate/LaAgIWtj">tropical</a>-<a href="/facts/Montane_ecosystems/gXbt5Gqn">montane</a> regions of North America and Eurasia, presently ranging southward in the Middle East to Lebanon and Israel, and across the Equator in the Far East into Indonesia.
Elms are components of many kinds of natural <a href="/facts/Forest/RnMtb31v">forests</a>. Moreover, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, many species and <a href="/facts/Cultivar/nfaLJJM3">cultivars</a> were also planted as ornamental street, garden, and park trees in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>, North America, and parts of the <a href="/facts/Southern_Hemisphere/QfJ4z9L5">Southern Hemisphere</a>, notably <a href="/facts/Australasia/KCCr5pqh">Australasia</a>. Some individual elms reached great size and age. However, in recent decades, most mature elms of European or North American origin have died from <a href="/facts/Dutch_elm_disease/l4jkmvnk">Dutch elm disease</a>, caused by a <a href="/facts/Microfungus/YcfbTNz1">microfungus</a> dispersed by <a href="/facts/Bark_beetle/WVvXjNwz">bark beetles</a>. In response, disease-resistant cultivars have been developed, capable of restoring the elm to forestry and <a href="/facts/Landscape/pU9HneR0">landscaping</a>.

Elm open-in-new

Elm