Wych elm leaves are big, up to 18 cm long, and rough as sandpaper on top. At the base one side starts well below the other, on almost no stalk.
Native · Up to 40 m
Wych elm
Ulmus glabra · Ulmaceae
Wych elm has big leaves up to 18 cm long, rough as sandpaper on top and almost stalkless. In spring its twigs are crowded with flat, winged seeds.
Often mistaken for hazel. How to tell them apart →Know it byLeavesBig, rough leaves, one side starting lower at the base.
SeedsFlat, pale green discs, a seed in the middle of each.
FlowersDense reddish purple tufts on bare twigs, in February and March.
LeavesBig, rough leaves, one side starting lower at the base.SeedsFlat, pale green discs, a seed in the middle of each.FlowersDense reddish purple tufts on bare twigs, in February and March.Then check · TwigsIn winter the twigs are stout and dark, covered in stiff orange hairs, with squat dark purple buds. They never grow corky ridges.
How to identify a wych elm
In spring, before most trees are in leaf, the twigs are crowded with flat, roundish, pale green discs. Each has its seed as a small bump in the middle, and they turn papery later.
In February and March, dense tufts of tiny reddish purple flowers sit straight on the bare twigs, well before any leaf.
Learn the wych elm in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely
Every part, in photographs
Rosy Thomson, CC BY 4.0
Scott Shanks, CC BY 4.0
Sinclair Laing, CC BY 4.0
Tom Norton, CC BY 4.0When to look
JFMAMJJASOND
In leaf
Flowers
Seeds
In leaf: April to November · Flowers: February to March · Seeds: April to May
Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter
Where you’ll find it
Upland rocky woods, ravines and stream-sides, and hedgerows, common in the north and west and patchier in the south. It is planted in parks and gardens, and was planted widely in Edinburgh in the 19th century, where it is still abundant.
What it’s mistaken for
Wych elm or hazel?Most wych elm you now meet is bushy regrowth in a hedge, and that passes for hazel at a glance.Base of the leaf→
Wych elm or hornbeam?Both grow in the same woods and hedges, with leaves that have big and small teeth and strong parallel veins.Older trunk→
- Field elmBoth are wild elms with rough leaves and winged fruit. Leaf. Wych elm: rough as sandpaper, and matt. Field elm: smooth and glossy, except on sprouts.
- English elmBoth have rough leaves. Leaf. Wych elm: oblong, up to 18 cm. English elm: nearly round, 5 to 10 cm.
More elms
In the app
There’s more of the wych elm in Treely
- Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
- Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
- A short round each dayUntil you know the wych elm on sight, from any side
- Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: steve_mcwilliam (CC0), Scott Shanks (CC BY 4.0), Zeke Marshall (CC BY 4.0), Rosy Thomson (CC BY 4.0), pilmar (CC0), Sinclair Laing (CC BY 4.0), Tom Norton (CC BY 4.0), Ewan Shilland (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.