Every May there is a brief, overwhelmingly abundant forest harvest: the seeds of the wych elm or Ulmus glabra.
![Elm flower, By Hermann Schachner (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Ulmus_glabra_%28Berg-Ulme%29_IMG_36365.JPG)
Elm flower, By Hermann Schachner (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
a curtain of elm seeds
The maturing fruit goes through several stages. It starts very much like a leaf, but as it grows the seed in the centre begins to develop and the whole thing develops a succulent oiliness. Beyond this stage, they turn dry, brittle and brown and blow off the tree. Around seeding elms there is a premature autumn at the end of spring as little drifts of the seeds carpet the ground like fallen leaves.
A human wishing to eat elm seeds faces the same problem as any other seed-eater – the sheer overwhelming number and the far-too-brief period when they are in the sweet spot of oily edibility. It’s hard not to fall prey to foraging greed, but I’ve learned to be sanguine about the fact that most of this bounty will dry up and blow away and just to enjoy a fraction of it while it lasts. The best use of elm seeds is in a salad where, as one source puts it, they will leave ‘the mouth feeling fresh and the breath smelling pleasant’. Cooking them is harder: one of the best uses I have found so far is as a component, along with wild garlic, nettles, kale and other spring greens, of ‘leaf sauce curry’ (about which I’ll post soon). This is a dish that lends itself well to being cooked in huge vats and frozen in portions, which helps to preserve the bounty a little.
Of course, I am lucky to have elm seeds at all. Many elms worldwide have been wiped out by Dutch elm disease. In the north of Scotland we are quite fortunate. Our native wych elms are more diverse and resistant than the English elm (Ulmus procera) and the cold, windy climate makes it harder for the bark beetles that spread the fungus to get around. As a result the spread of the disease has been slower and we still have many fine trees.
In other areas, all is not necessarily lost for the elm. There are now various projects to breed or discover elms with some degree of resistance to the disease. Some are based on attempts to shuffle the genetic pack by hybridising different elm species. While this can be effective it does have the downside that the results cannot be called native in any area and, ironically, one of the leading cultivars has been suspected of increasing the spread of a different elm disease. The Conservation Foundation supplies clones of native (UK) elms that have shown some signs of resistance and I have planted several round my local area. Finally, there is a chance that resistance might emerge more organically from wild trees in areas like northern Scotland where transmission rates are lower and death rates less catastrophic. If you want to give the elm a helping hand by finding a home for some resistant varieties, I’m sure they would be happy to repay you by supplying some seeds to fill your stomach and freshen your breath.
too late
Thanks for the interesting tip. I’ll have to try it.
Are all elm seeds good/safe to eat or is it only particular species?
I’ve only tried wych elm but you can find information online about lots of other species, such as Chinese elm, slippery elm and English elm. I suspect that the whole genus is edible but of course it’s always a good idea to have information about the exact species that you want to try.
Reblogged this on Mortal Tree and commented:
I need to get me one of these. I wonder if they would produce seeds if coppiced? This would keep the goodies within reach, and feed my rabbit.
See this post by Wooddogs3 about Siberian elm: https://albuquerqueurbanhomestead.com/2011/03/21/mild-wild-greensthe-siberian-elm/ It seems I’m on the outs of a good thing. Will remedy that shortly.
I don’t think so. There was one next to my parent’s house that was ‘coppiced’ by Dutch elm disease. I don’t remember it ever producing seed.
I’m in conversation with Wooddogs over at my blog and she says the same thing about her Siberian elms. Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for the post also. They are always such works of art -visually and verbally.
Great post (and blog!). I guess you harvest the seeds when they’re still in their green sheaths, as in the picture above? I think I will get seeds and plant them around, maybe it’s a way to help them come back.
Hi Dita. It’s the whole thing you eat, green sheath and all. It would be interesting to try just the actual seeds, but an incredible amount of work!
Our elms here are incredibly easy to harvest. They drop off the tree before they’re dry, right at the peak delicious stage. Good post!
Thanks for this article. I had to search a fair bit to find confirmation for what I thought I was seeing – that elm seeds come before the leaves. And I wasn’t sure when the flowers occurred as they’re hard to see, high up on the tall tree that’s outside my window in Tasmania. I was wondering if perhaps they occurred sometime during summer, with the fertile seeds put on hold till the following spring! Anyway, now I’ll look harder for them in early spring. ‘My’ tree is in full seed now, BTW. I’ll have to try and collect some to try a taste.
As we descend into winter at this end of the planet, it’s nice to be reminded that somewhere it is spring 🙂 I hope you enjoy the seeds. Please note that while I’m not aware of any species of elm being inedible, my information is for Ulmus glabra only.
Yes, they are starting to die in Aberdeen as well now. It is very sad. Small trees often escape because the beetles that spread the disease need a certain thickness of bark and seem to prefer taller trees.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gkuCbbjo4js&t=40s
I wonder how this recipe would taste baked, or fried…?
Wow, looks amazing.