[2][3] The tree was first named and described by the Japanese botanist Bunzō Hayata in 1913,[4] in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War, when the Republic of Formosa was ceded to Japan.

[7] The leaves are oblique at the base,[6][5] have short (2–6 mm) petioles,[1][7] and are flushed dark-red (anthocyanin pigmentation) on emergence.

The perfect wind-pollinated apetalous flowers appear on second-year shoots in February, the obovate to orbicular samarae, 10–15 × 8–10 mm, on half-centimetre pedicels,[8][9] in March.

[1] Hayata considered the tree similar to Ulmus castaneifolia, differing only in the much thinner leaves, and absence of pubescence on the axils of the primary lateral veins.

U. uyematsui was selected as one of eight tree species considered hardy enough to survive in the ecological reclamation of the Wujiazi iron mine 270 kilometres (170 mi) north-east of Beijing in Liaoning Province, China, where winter temperatures fall as low as −20 °C (−4 °F).