Siberian Elm invades several Inland States

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qwee

qwee

Feeling the Heat
Jan 17, 2013
374
Idaho
Well I finally figured out what the elm in my area, Southern Idaho, is.

Non-native, Siberian elm has established itself in the dry arid inland mid & western US. Moreover, it can also out compete other species in other areas, too. Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, Minnesota, Utah, and Oregon (and more). And, the toughest Elm is? Siberian Elm.

Siberian Elm can tolerate extremes of cold and heat, and also low water areas that would kill other trees. It doesn't grow as large as other elms. And it grows without a true center so there can be several trunks. Ok it is here, is it any good for firewood?

As Elm goes - a mid-range firewood - it is just a little lower BTU rating than red/slippery elm, the best elm firewood. So it is in the 20-22 BTU range. It hybrizes with other elms and is resistant to Dutch Elm disease, too.

 
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We have it around here. I have it nearly eradicated from our property, but the neighbor to the east has a lot of it so it will always be around here. It is ok for firewood. My beef with it is the prolific seeding it does. When we planted a hardwood tree crp field we failed to get rid of a mature siberian nearby and it seeded parts of the field into an elm hedge (think 1/2 acre solid tree sprouts). I spent many hours over a few years getting rid of those trees without killing all the hardwoods. I should have just killed everything and re-seeded the hardwood. Then I went in the woods and cut the rest of them and treated all the smaller ones. I still have a few standing girdled ones that I haven't burned.
 
What wonderful information and I have a honey locust in the front of my house and i love it...thanks for the information...clancey
 
clancey said:
What wonderful information and I have a honey locust in the front of my house and i love it...thanks for the information...clancey
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Wait until you run into these, they hurt like the dickens:
Leaves-pods-trunk-honey-locust.jpg
 
What is that maybe I can grow it around my house for security protection? lol lol. They look terrible and where do they grow and what are they? Terrible...clancey
 
clancey said:
What is that maybe I can grow it around my house for security protection? lol lol. They look terrible and where do they grow and what are they? Terrible...clancey
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That is honey locust.
 
That is not a honey locust--not my tree anyway and that's what i have a Honey Locust in my front yard.. Will get a picture of my pretty tree for you...clancey
 
maybe you have black locust.
 
I don't know what that is. ... The dark/light grooves don't say black locust either to me.
 
The bark does look like it, but I've not seen them without the thorns... Maybe a "tamed" variety rather than a wild one? (Similar to blackberries without thorns.)
 
clancey said:
You are teasing me because that is a Honey Locust...old clancey..lol
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You have a thorn-less honey locust used in landscaping. We have wild honey locust with the thorns:

cmg.extension.colostate.edu

Thornless Common Honeylocust

Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis (gle-dit’-se-a try-a-kan’-thus ee-ner’-mis) Family: Caesalpinaceae, Cassia; Formerly Fabaceae, bean family) Key Steps 1b – Alternate leaf arrangement — go to 18 18b – Leaf compound — go to 58 58b – More than 3 leaflets — go to 59 59a – Entire or very finely...
cmg.extension.colostate.edu cmg.extension.colostate.edu
 
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Well that makes me feel better about my tree and I raised it from a sprig and I sure do not want those spikes in my yard--terrible looking--wow...thanks...sometimes too much information is bad--lol .. ..That stoveliker is bad for scaring me like that thinking I would have to cut it down if the spikes came --he's bad I tell you---just kidding here...thanks everyone and it does not take too much to upset me for I am a worry wort--lol old clancey
 
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qwee said:
Well I finally figured out what the elm in my area, Southern Idaho, is.

Non-native, Siberian elm has established itself in the dry arid inland mid & western US. Moreover, it can also out compete other species in other areas, too. Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, Minnesota, Utah, and Oregon (and more). And, the toughest Elm is? Siberian Elm.

Siberian Elm can tolerate extremes of cold and heat, and also low water areas that would kill other trees. It doesn't grow as large as other elms. And it grows without a true center so there can be several trunks. Ok it is here, is it any good for firewood?

As Elm goes - a mid-range firewood - it is just a little lower BTU rating than red/slippery elm, the best elm firewood. So it is in the 20-22 BTU range. It hybrizes with other elms and is resistant to Dutch Elm disease, too.

Click to expand...

I'm in NM and have been burning Siberian elm almost exclusively for the past 8-9 years, mainly because it's the most available hardwood here. A lot of people will say that it doesn't burn well and mostly smolders. That is because it HAS to be very dry (2 years, min., 3 years preferably). Once it reaches that dryness (2-5% on my moisture meter) it burns almost like oak. I am originally from PA and have a forestry degree so I know hardwoods. Splitting can be an issue because of its grain, but once fully dry it is quite manageable. In my fireplace insert (Quadra Fire Expedition II) it puts out incredible heat and low ash as long as the coals are stirred. I hope this helps.
 
If I had to take out all of the invasive tree species from my stacks of firewood, my stacks would shrink by more than 50%! It sounds like Siberian Elm is a good firewood especially in areas where there aren't many options.
 
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