Tree · Ulmaceae
Slippery elm
Ulmus rubra
Slippery elm is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,362 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Slippery elm at a glance
- Native in
- 1,362 counties, across 36 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 85 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Slippery elm is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,362 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,362 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 30 counties
- Arkansas 74 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 31 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 59 counties
- Iowa 20 counties
- Kansas 61 counties
- Kentucky 118 counties
- Louisiana 52 counties
- Maine 3 counties
- Massachusetts 8 counties
- Michigan 27 counties
- Minnesota 33 counties
- Mississippi 19 counties
- Missouri 112 counties
- Nebraska 27 counties
- New Hampshire 5 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 43 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- North Dakota 4 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 62 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- South Carolina 5 counties
- South Dakota 9 counties
- Tennessee 61 counties
- Texas 12 counties
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 88 counties
- West Virginia 50 counties
- Wisconsin 34 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 85 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 21 to 83 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Winter
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Ulmaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ULRU
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ulmus rubra (PLANTS symbol ULRU).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources