Zelkova carpinifolia

Caucasian zelkova is in the elm or Ulmaceae family and is native to the Caucasus, Kaçkar, and Alborz mountains in the extreme southeast of Europe and southwest Asia. It is a medium-sizwd deciduous tree growing to about 35 m tall.

• Crown can have is a highly distinctive vase shape, the trunk dividing low down into numerous branches; twigs are slender and zigzag, with small cone-shaped buds that diverge at a 45° angle from the stem.
• Leaves are 4–10 cm long and 2.5–6 cm across, alternate, simple, bluntly serrated, with 7–12 teeth on each side, slanted (asymmetrical) at the base like leaves as in the elm (Ulmus) genus. Pairs of pointed stipules are quite evident at the bases of new leaves in the spring, disappearing after flowering.
• Trees are monoecious with the male (staminate) flowers about 3 mm in diameter, clustered in the axils of the lower leaves. The female (pistillate) flowers are solitary and in the axils of the upper leaves, no stems (sessile) and about 1.5 mm in diameter. The flowers are yellow-green, not showy, and occur in tight groups along new stems.
• Fruit is a small nutlet 5–6 mm in diameter.