American elms can reach a height of 125 feet and a diameter of 7 feet or more, although heights of 60 to 80 feet and diameters of 3 to 4 feet are more common. The leaves differ in size. American elm leaves are an average size of two to four inches. Siberian elm leaves are much smaller, about an inch in length. They both have an uneven base and jagged edges.
Elm bark is dark gray to reddish-brown.
On mature trees, the bark becomes divided by deep vertical grooves. The average life span of a healthy elm tree could be 400 years. However, in an urban setting, the average life span is less due to environmental stresses. Elm Disease entered the eastern United States about 1930 and has been moving westward ever since. Many cities to the east lost nearly all of their elms.