Ulmus macrocarpa Hance, the large-fruited elm, is a deciduous tree or large shrub endemic to the Far East excluding Japan.

By the age of ten years, the tree bears a close resemblance to the American elm U. americana, but will never approach the latter's size.

The tree can reach a height of 17 m, with a slender trunk rarely exceeding 0.4 m d.b.h; the bark is longitudinally fissured, and dark grey in colour.

As implied by its name, U. macrocarpa is distinguished by its large, orbicular, wafer-like samarae < 50 mm in diameter, which ripen in May and June.

[11] Typically, U. macrocarpa is intolerant of poorly drained ground prone to waterlogging, but has been found to be the most cold hardy of the Chinese elms in artificial freezing tests at the Morton Arboretum, the LT50 (temp.