Slippery elm is not an important lumber tree. The seeds of slippery elm are eaten by birds and small mammals. The bark of slippery elm contains a mucilaginous substance that was used as a treatment for coughs and diarrhea by the early settlers.
Slippery elm is susceptible to many of the same diseases as American elm.
Throughout much of its range, it is also killed by elm yellows or elm phloem necrosis. These two diseases are so virulent and widespread that slippery elm seldom reaches commercial size and volume as a forest tree, and it is being replaced as a street tree in many localities.