It's a beautiful tree with the classic vase shape. Now try to imagine a boulevard lined with American Elms of similar stature. It would be interesting to hear from those who are responsible for municipal plantings on the merit of using Ulmus americana.

I grew up with huge A. elms boulevard trees across the street.

Trunks were much taller than the above with a little less girth and spread but they were growing in a row along the street.

Strong straight-lined wind took them down one summer and, within a few years, you started hearing about DED.

By the time I left the cities in my late teens, city crews were marking trees with a big blue 'X' (spray paint) and it wasn't uncommon to see crews cutting them down and hauling them away.

I haven't been back there, since my folks passed away (25 years?) so haven't experienced the EAB devastation down there.

:-)

Amazing tree

Growing up in an old. large farmhouse where one of the previous owners ~1910 had a penchant for European trees, and those trees were all around the neighborhood area as that area at one time was the farmlot property, which included many large Norway maples, a large European larch and a huge, double-trunked white mulberry. Empty lot beside the house had giant, planted English elms that were well over 100 ft and 4+ ft in dia. One summer, one branch on one died, and by the end of the next summer, all but one smaller, isolated one were dead. I have a pic of the old house when many of the original trees were gone, and one large Nordmann fir was showing a leaning top after a lightning strike which not long after died from it.

What a shame.