Flora Medica

ULMACE^E.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 178.ULMUS.Calyx turbinate, shrivelled, permanent in ; 4, 5 , 6, or more, uprightsegments, coloured on the inner side. Filaments as manyas the segments of the calyx, and twice as long, inserted into thetube opposite each segment. Anthers erect, short, with 4> furrows,and 2 cells, bursting lengthwise externally. Ovary compressed,cloven at the summit ; stigmas 2, terminal, spreading,downy, shorter than the calyx, finally inflexed. Fruit membranous,compressed, orbicular or somewhat oblong, with a notchat the extremity. Seed solitary, roundish, slightly compressed.626. U. effusa Willd. sp. pi i. 1325. N. and E. plant, med.t. 103. U. pedunculata Fougeroux. Poir. encycl. ii. p. 610.Woods in the southern parts of Europe.A small tree. Branches erect, when old a bright chesnut brown andsmooth, when young densely clothed with down. Leaves smooth andrather shining on the upper side, soft with down on the under ; obovate,acuminate, sharply and doubly serrated, extremely unequal at the base.Flowers small, on long slender stalks. Fruit ovate, bifid, coarselyreticulated, bordered with a deep thick fringe of hairs, on smooth slenderstalks twice as long as themselves. See the next species.627. U. campestris Linn. sp. pi 327. E. Sot. xxvii. 1. 1886.Smith Eng. Fl ii. 20. Woods and hedges.Trunk rather crooked, with a rugged bark, and spreading, round*zigzag, brown, leafy branches. Leaves about 2 inches long, and 1 broadin the middle, doubly serrated, contracted towards each end ; unequalat the base, as in every known species ;dark green, and very roughto the touch, on the upper side; paler and smoother beneath, witha prominent midrib, and several transverse parallel ribs, which haveeach a small tuft of downy hairs at the origin. Flowers much earlierthan the foliage, and from inferior buds, in numerous dense,round, dull purple tufts, each flower almost sessile, with an oblongfringed bractea at its base. Limb of the calyx in 4 oblong obtuse segments,of a light brownish-red, minutely fringed. Stamens 4, equal,with dark purple anthers. Stigmas a downy line along the upper edgeof each style, which line is never elongated but becomes incurved, fromthe great dilatation of the opposite margin, running down into thebordered, oblong-wedgeshaped, or nearly obovate, flat, pale brown,somewhat shining, capsule, which has a deep sinus at the extremity,bordered with the styles, and extending towards the seed. Smith.The inner bark of the Elm is demulcent and diuretic ; it is also slightlyastringent and therefore a feeble tonic. It has been used in some skindiseases, but is rarely resorted to. Mr. Pereira mentions U. glabra asanother species officinally employed. The bark should be stripped inthe spring.