It is uncommon beyond Tennessee; it is only very locally distributed through Illinois, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Georgia, and disjunct populations into Nuevo León, Mexico.

[2] It grows predominantly on limestone bluffs and along streams to elevations of 400 m.[3] Rarely exceeding 20 m in height, the tree has a rounded crown with spreading to pendulous branches.

[4] The wind-pollinated apetalous perfect flowers form pendulous racemes, which open in September and serve to distinguish the species from its cogenitor, the cedar elm U. crassifolia, with which it readily hybridizes.

Before the outbreak of Dutch elm disease, U. serotina enjoyed limited popularity as a shade tree in the southern part of its range.

The September elm is very rare in cultivation in Europe;[6] it was briefly propagated and marketed in the UK by the Hillier and Sons nursery, Winchester, Hampshire, from 1972 to 1977, when 16 were sold.