Large shade trees with spreading branches, leaves that grow in pairs, and seeds with paper-thin wings, commonly planted along streets and in parks.
From Old English 'elm,' cognate with Dutch 'elm' and German 'Ulme.' The word is ancient and appears in Germanic languages, possibly from Indo-European roots. The tree was common throughout northern Europe and was valued for timber and shade.
Elm trees were so important to medieval Europe that they show up in Shakespeare's plays and old poems—but in the 20th century, a devastating disease called Dutch elm disease wiped out millions of them, making the trees that survive today actually precious survivors!
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