# Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia) > A tough shade tree with the smallest leaves of any native elm, flowers in late summer and clear yellow fall color, for dry or soggy clay. Also called basket elm, southern rock elm, Texas elm. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cedar-elm/ ![Cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia) twig of small, toothed leaves turning orange and gold in fall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/cedar-elm-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Mason Brock, Public domain ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUlmus_crassifolia_leaves.jpeg)* ## Facts - Type: Large tree - Mature height: 50 to 70 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 6 to 9 - Grows wild in: Floodplain forests, stream banks, rocky ground and dry uplands - Native range: 8 states, north to Missouri, south to Florida and west to Texas (Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas) - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Dry, Wet - Growth rate: Fast - Traits: Drought tolerant, Fall color, Wildlife value, Tolerates wet soil - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Cedar elm is the common elm of Texas, planted there widely as a shade and street tree. Its leaves, 1 to 2 inches long, are stiff and rough to the touch. It is one of the two native elms that flower in late summer and fall, with September elm. The name comes from those rough leaves and from the Ashe juniper, called cedar, that it grows beside on limestone hills. Tennessee lists it as a species of special concern. Use it as a shade or street tree on hot, heavy clay, alongside other kinds of trees. ## Size, growth and what to expect Cedar elm grows fast, about 2.75 feet a year in our growth estimator. Expect 50 to 70 feet with a rounded crown 40 to 60 feet wide. It flowers in August and September, and the samaras ripen in September and October. Some years a second round of flowers opens in October, with seed in November. The seeds make up a tenth of the plain chachalaca's diet in south Texas, and wild turkeys eat the seeds and buds. The leaves feed mourning cloak and question mark caterpillars. It grows wild from southwest Tennessee and Arkansas through Oklahoma, Louisiana, western Mississippi and Texas into northeast Mexico, with an outlying stand in north Florida. Its best growth is on deep, moist soils along streams. On dry limestone hills it stays small and scrubby. ## How to grow Cedar Elm Cedar elm grows best in full sun and takes part shade. It grows in sand, loam, heavy clay or limestone soil and is not particular about pH. It takes long drought once established and also stands wet, poorly drained ground. Plant it 30 feet from a wall and more than 50 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 40 feet apart. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the trunk. Sow the seed outdoors in fall, no deeper than a quarter inch, and seedlings come up in spring. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 days first. In a nursery bed only 5 to 12 percent of good seed grows into a plantable seedling. Water weekly through the first summer. It is not deer resistant, so guard young trees for the first few years. Keep one leader, and keep side limbs under about two thirds the width of the trunk, since weak crotches can split. The branches droop as the tree grows, so raise the crown over walks and drives. Each cedar elm flower carries both male and female parts, but elms seldom set seed with their own pollen. The wind carries pollen between trees, so plant two or more if you want seed. Dutch elm disease can kill cedar elm, though it is less harmful here than in American elm. Plant it among other kinds of trees, so that a single pest or disease reaches only part of the planting. Mistletoe, aphids, elm leaf beetles and powdery mildew are its other common troubles. The flowers shed pollen with the ragweeds and can worsen late-summer hay fever. ## Sources - [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Cedar Elm, Stransky and Bierschenk 1990](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/cedar-elm) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Ulmus chapter, Barbour and Brinkman](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Ulmus.pdf) - [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Ulmus crassifolia](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233501326) - [University of Florida IFAS Extension, Fact Sheet ST-651: Ulmus crassifolia, Cedar Elm (Gilman and Watson, 1994)](http://web.archive.org/web/20210926103609/https://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/ulmcraa.pdf) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Ulmus crassifolia](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ULCR) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: cedar elm, text from Texas A&M](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=912) - [Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Tree Selector: Cedar Elm](https://texastreeplanting.tamu.edu/Display_Onetree.aspx?tid=100) - [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Ulmus crassifolia](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ulmus/ulmus-crassifolia/) - [Florida Native Plant Society: Ulmus crassifolia](https://www.fnps.org/plant/ulmus-crassifolia) - [Cal Poly Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute, SelecTree: Ulmus crassifolia](https://selectree.calpoly.edu/tree-detail/ulmus-crassifolia) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Ulmus crassifolia, ULCR](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ULCR) - [NatureServe Explorer: Ulmus crassifolia](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128702/Ulmus_crassifolia) - [Tennessee Natural Heritage Program: Tennessee Rare Plant List, October 2025](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/natural-areas/documents/na_tn-rare-plant-list.pdf) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Native trees for insects: the beetles, wasps, cicadas and fireflies that everything else eats](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-insects/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) - [Six trees not to plant near a house, and what to plant instead](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/trees-not-to-plant-near-a-house/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Cedar Elm, add ?species=cedar-elm with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=cedar-elm&zone=6&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Cedar Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=cedar-elm): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=cedar-elm - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Cedar Elm is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=cedar-elm - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Cedar Elm needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=cedar-elm:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Cedar Elm flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.