Back in the summer of 1981 I saw a large, beautiful specimen in Bern, Switzerland in a park. Otherwise, I've never seen one in the USA. It is a member of the Elm Family that is long-lived and a medium to large sized tree. It grows in a vase-shaped habit with a head of ovoid or oblong form with upright branches, and has a relatively short trunk with mostly smooth beech-like bark with some exfoliating areas with some tan, brown, and orange-brown areas. Its dark foliage gets a good yellow to orange fall colour. It needs moist, well-drained, rich soil. The name of "Zelkova" comes from the Caucasian language for the tree of "tselkwa" and the species name of "carpinifolia means foliage like a hornbeam tree (Carpinus). It is native to the Caucasus and the area around the Caspian Sea. It is endangered in its native land, though it is popular in many botanical parks across the world in that they grow at least one or some of the trees in each site.

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