Ulmaceae Explained

The Ulmaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus Ulmus), and the zelkovas (genus Zelkova).^[1] Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution elsewhere except for Australasia.^{[2] [3]}

The family was formerly sometimes treated to include the hackberries, (Celtis and allies), but an analysis by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group suggests that these genera are better placed in the related family Cannabaceae.^[3] It generally is considered to include ca 7 genera and about 45 species.^[4] Some classifications also include the genus Ampelocera.^[5]

Description

The family is a group of evergreen or deciduous trees and shrubs with mucilaginous substances in leaf and bark tissue. Leaves are usually alternate on the stems. The leaf blades are simple (not compound), with entire (smooth) or variously toothed margins, and often have an asymmetrical base. The flowers are small and either bisexual or unisexual. The fruit is an indehiscent samara, nut, or drupe.

Uses

Ulmus provides important timber trees mostly for furniture.

Phylogeny

Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest the following relationships:^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. Denk . T . GW Grimm . Phylogeny and biogeography of Zelkova (Ulmaceae sensu stricto) as inferred from leaf morphology, ITS sequence data and the fossil record . . 147 . 2 . 129–157 . February 2005 . 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2005.00354.x. free .
2. Web site: Watson. L.. Dallwitz, M. J. . The Families of Flowering Plants: Ulmaceae Mirb.. 1992. 21 November 2006 .
3. Web site: Stevens. P. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Missouri Botanical Garden. 2001. 21 November 2006 .
4. Christenhusz, M. J. M. . Byng, J. W. . amp . 2016 . The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase . Phytotaxa . 261 . 201–217 . 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 . 3 . free .
5. Ueda. Kunihiko . K Kosuge . H Tobe. A molecular phylogeny of Celtidaceae and Ulmaceae (Urticales) based on rbcL nucleotide sequences . Journal of Plant Research . 110. 2. 171–178. June 1997. 10.1007/BF02509305. 1997JPlR..110..171U . 38413808 .
6. Zavada MS, Kim M . 1996 . Phylogenetic analysis of Ulmaceae . . 200 . 1 . 13–20 . 10.1007/BF00984745. 1996PSyEv.200...13Z . 44056978 .
7. Fossils, biogeography and dates in an expanded phylogeny of Ulmaceae . Neubig K, Herrera F, Manchester S, Abbott JR . July 7–11, 2012 . Botanical Society of America . St. Louis, Missouri . Botany 2012: Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of America in Columbus, Ohio, USA . Abstract 316.
8. Sun M . Naeem R . Su J-X . Cao Z-Y . J. Burleigh G . Soltis PS . Soltis DE . Chen Z-D . 2016 . Phylogeny of the Rosidae: A dense taxon sampling analysis . Journal of Systematics and Evolution . 54 . 4 . 363–391 . 10.1111/jse.12211. free .