Same here. Standing dead elm 90% of the tree could go in the stacks to burn the same day. It may be tougher to split than other trees, but it burns great.
I'll go with the consensus and agree it's American elm. I still think it smells too good to be American elm, but maybe after smelling stinky cottonwood all week the elm doesn't smell half bad in comparison.
I just read that American elm and red elm can create hybrids in nature, and red elm also naturally crosses with Siberian elm. Furthermore, elms in general have the tendency to develop ecotypes, which are sort of like locally evolved sub-species based on local growing conditions. Not all trees do this, but apparently elms are especially prone to doing so. This could go some way to explaining why it can be hard to ID the different elms.
That’s a fair point. The best way to identify them is by their leaves. I will say that it’s usually quite easy for me to tell the difference between Slippery, American, and Siberian. Also usually the American is standing dead from Dutch Elm Disease.
