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Leaf of white elm

 

European white elm

Künnapuu

Ulmus laevis

The joyous riot of autumnal colours makes one observe the changes in trees more carefully than usual. The European white elm or fluttering elm has an exceptionally beautiful crown and is widely planted in parks, country house yards and forests. The tree, with a greyish brown trunk, grows in fertile soils, tolerates shade and may become up to three hundred years old.

 

Why is Arne’s photo of a leaf there in the beginning of our story? The leaves of the white elm are often asymmetrical, oval or broadly eggshaped (ovate), with a serrated margin and with soft hairs on the underside. The larger leaves may be up to some twenty centimetres long, the leaf stalk only a centimetre. Don’t confuse them with elm leaves.