Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Is this an American Elm?, 1 by plymouthgarden

plymouthgarden wrote:
Was in Maine this weekend and dug out this small, pretty volunteer seedling from our property - it had to be cleared anyway to make room for a septic system that will be dug in a few weeks....so we figured we were "saving" it. We were told this was some sort of American Beech. We do have huge European Beeches on our property back in Mass, but were not that familiar with American Beeches.

We put it in the ground this afternoon (back home) - but are now questioning this idea.

After much research, I'm thinking this is an American Elm. The tree is vase shaped, the biggest leaves are 6.5". It's a very lime-green color. There are other volunteer seedlings scattered among the Maine property - all growing as understory trees among much bigger pines - our immediate thought was that we were looking for something that would spread and fill up a shady spot and these seems to very graceful and pretty trees...they really illuminate the understory.

Any thoughts? I'm thinking this was not the best idea we had today....! There's the size consideration, Dutch Elm Disease, seeds/more volunteers (would I be creating a monster forest of elms?).

What would you do?

Thanks - Kara