Nat. Ord. (Natural Order) Ulmace�. Lin. Syst. (Linnean System) Pentandria, Digynia. We have ascribed to the oak the character of preeminent dignity and majesty among the trees of the forest. Let us now claim for the elm the epithets graceful and elegant. This tree is one of the noblest in the size of its trunk, while the branches are comparatively tapering and slender, forming themselves, in most of the species, into long and graceful curves. The flowers are of a chocolate or purple color, and appear in the month of April, before the leaves. The latter are light and airy, of a pleasing light green in the spring, growing darker, however, as the season advances. The elm is one of the most common trees in both continents, and has been well known for its beauty and usefulness since a remote period. In the south of Europe, particularly in Lombardy, elm trees are planted in vineyards, and the vines are trained in festoons from tree to tree in the most picturesque manner. Tasso alludes to this in the following stanza: "Come olmo, a cui la pampinosa pianta Cupida s'avviticchi e si marite; Se ferro il tronca, o fulmine lo schianta Trae seco a terra la compagna vite." Gerusalemme Liberata, 2. 326.
