At 04:34 AM 5/23/03 -0700, you wrote:
Hi.
I'd like to ask which are the differences
between chinese elm and zelkova?
How can i understand which is what?
Thanks in advance.

Apostolis

I can tell by looking at them, but that doesn't help you very much. You got
a lot of good reponses, all true, but still all vague enough that I don't
think I could tell the difference between the two if I didn't already know.

SO, here is an unabiguous answer. Fresh from the shadehouse with my 5X hand
lens. They are nearly impossible to tell apart from the leaves alone except
for this fact. The upper surface of Zelkova serrata and Z. carpinfolia are
DULL. The upper leaf surface of Ulmus parvifolia (Chinese elm) are SHINY.
Now you need you hand lens, I don't think you can do it without one. I
would shocked, shocked, anyhow if anyone in horticulture didn't have a hand
lens on himself/herself at all times. The upper surface of Zelkova leaves
are DULL because they are HAIRY. The upper surface of Ulmus parvifolia are
SHINY because they are HAIRLESS.

Don't be confused this with the petiole or soft stem of Ulmus parvifolia
which are indeed hairy, only look at the leaf surface. On every Zelkova
leaf I looked at, the edges (margins) of the leaf, had these almost
microscopic hairs protruding, U. parvifolia had none.

There you have it.

Brent in Northern California
Evergreen Gardenworks USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 14

http://www.EvergreenGardenworks.com

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