Planera aquatica (water elm)

You collect native trees, you say? Well, I bet you don't have this one!

This elm-like native is a smallish, yet fast-growing tree for wet soils and the average to poor soils of a typical neighborhood.

It grows 20 to 30' tall and wide in swamps of the Coastal Plain of the Southern States, and northward along the Mississippi Valley, from zones 9 to 6.

The leaves have the same asymmetrical base and serrated margins that looks exactly like a small elm leaf. Fall color is yellow and is quite good.

Flowers on water elm are boring, unless you are a plant nerd and love all things botany (ahem, raising hand). They are similar to winged elm (Ulmus alatus) in that they create more of a hue along winter branches, if you're tuned to notice such things.

Bark exfoliates in a magnificent manner and you'll get to enjoy plenty of it along the vase-shaped branching architecture.

We have only 4 in stock and may never have these again. Depends how it goes with these four. So, cast it a vote and order before they're sold to somebody else (ahem, praying hands).

• native tree

What other Planara species are there?
None, this is it. It's called a "monotypic species" when there's only one species in the genus, i.e., there's only Planera aquatica in the Planera genus. It is in the elm family (Ulmacea), so elm trees are the closeset relatives. You can see the family resemblance in the leaves and the common name "water elm."