It's been a wet week in the arboretum and the rain is still falling. Despite the water, our dry fall and dry winter have kept the ground from becoming especially soggy. The grass and trees are gladly soaking it up!
Our tree of the week is a particularly water-needy tree. The water-elm (
Planera aquatica) is a Louisiana native, found waterside in lowland woods. There are two water-elms in the arboretum collection. Both were collected in the spring of 1995, in Shreveport, on the west shore of Cross Lake, at the home of Centenary French professor Dana Kress. They were planted the following November, side-by-side, in a low, wet spot in the arboretum. Today, one of the two trees is significantly larger than the other. The photos below are primarily of the larger of the two trees, but its spindly counterpart can be spied in a few of the photos.
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| This is a view of the 'lower pond,' which today serves as the arboretum's designated drainage basin. Beneath the wooden railing (pictured on the right) a
cement drain empties out onto a flat populated by Louisiana irises and
palmettos. The water-elm is pictured center. Its spindly counterpart (of the same species) can be seen to the left. Although the two trees were
planted at the same time, the one nearest the drain is obviously thriving. |
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| The water-elm is pictured center. On the left side of the photo, the cement drainage structure is pictured, partially obscured by Louisiana irises. When the water-elms were first planted, this area had continuous standing water. |
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| This water-elm has a short trunk, divided into three large branches. |
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| Roots of the water-elm sprawl out from the base of the trunk. |
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| The thick trunk is slightly bowed. |
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| Water-elms have rough, flaky, reddish-gray bark. |
You can find additional information about this species from the following sources:
United States Department of Agriculture
Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours (LSU AgCenter)
Virginia Tech Dendrology
