Can Siberian elms be tapped for syrup?

I've seen references to elm trees being tappable for syrup, along with a warning not to tap them because they're endangered thanks to Dutch Elm Disease.

Well, Siberian elms are not endangered -- they're invasive weed trees that are all over the place, including two enormous ones right next to my house (sigh).   We want those out but can't afford to hire a professional to remove them.  (They've gotta be sixty feet tall -- we can't take them out safely ourselves.)

Could I tap them for syrup?  They're about 30 years old, so they're definitely big enough to survive it.  Is the sap edible?  Does it taste good?

Have you ever tried it?

I came to find out that question. I'll probably give it a try on the one giant tree we have here.

I am also trying this year with the Siberian Elms. Will likely boil up a small amount seperatly and see what the taste and yield is like. Hopingto make modern history! Lol.

Emily Sorensen wrote:I've seen references to elm trees being tappable for syrup, along with a warning not to tap them because they're endangered thanks to Dutch Elm Disease.
Siberian elms are not endangered -- they're invasive weed trees that are all over the place, including two enormous ones right next to my house (sigh).   We want those out but can't afford to hire a professional to remove them.  (They've gotta be sixty feet tall -- we can't take them out safely ourselves.)
Could I tap them for syrup?  They're about 30 years old, so they're definitely big enough to survive it.  Is the sap edible?  Does it taste good?
Have you ever tried it?

Yes, they can be tapped for syrup.
However if the sap doesn't taste sweet to you, it might be a lot of work for not much return.
do you know the Jones Rule of 86? It is a rule of thumb that estimates the amount of sap needed to make syrup. To use the rule, divide 86 by the percentage of sugar in the sap. For example, if the sap is 2% sugar, Like sugar maple in the early spring, you need 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
It may also have a different taste than you expect: birch syrup is delicious as well, but doesn't taste much like sugar maple syrup.
If you only have 2, you might also not get all that much sap?
But I'll confess that I would not know a Siberian Elm from a hole in the wall, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Other trees that can be tapped for their sap to produce syrup include: soft maples (silver and red), walnut, birch, and hickory.

Oddly enough, my first post on Permies.com was to inquire many years ago about tapping non-maples for syrup:   https://permies.com/t/21785/Boxelder-Trees#304244

There may have been mention in that thread on Siberian elm or at least American elm, but please note that Siberian elm is considered to be resistant to Dutch elm disease so no need to worry about accelerated loss of that tree species to that particular disease.  The Siberian elms in our windbreak (northern Minnesota) are, however, quite susceptible to herbicide drift from adjacent farm fields and much of the windbreak has lost the Siberian elm to this issue.  Fortunately, there is enough ash and box elder to still provide for density of the windbreak.

But given that all currently responding in this thread may have access to box elder, I would encourage you to try this species if it is available to you.  The accompanying map [ from https://www.thoughtco.com/boxelder-info-and-identification-tips-1343178 ] shows its eastern and midwestern range and I recall as well them being in many parts of Utah.  As box elder is somewhat related to maple, they do have a rather nice final syrup.  The downside is that the sugar content of the sap is about 1/2 that of sap from sugar maple.  This means doubling the amount of box elder sap to acquire the same amount that you would get of maple syrup fom sugar maple sap.  Yet when I made a small batch, I was struck by the quite nice butterscotch-y flavor of the box elder sap.  So just one possibility if the Siberian elm does not work satifactorily for you.  Good luck!

Try tapping black walnut estimated 100:1 ratio.  Similar ratio for paper birch.  My sugar maples yield 30-35:1 depending on available moisture and the number of freeze/thaw days.

Mark

Is all tree sap edible, more or less, and so not a great danger of poisoning?  Seems like all of the sap I've seen and tried has been mostly water, and contains sugar ... or at least can be boiled down to taste sweet.  For instance, I've tapped and boild Red Alder sap and it tastes great!!!  But how do I find out if there are any less-than-desirable things within the sap?

Bob Frenock wrote:Is all tree sap edible, more or less, and so not a great danger of poisoning?  Seems like all of the sap I've seen and tried has been mostly water, and contains sugar ... or at least can be boiled down to taste sweet.  For instance, I've tapped and boild Red Alder sap and it tastes great!!!  But how do I find out if there are any less-than-desirable things within the sap?

Well, Bob, I'm not sure where you live, but since Red Alder grows in zones 6b-8b, if you have a:
Manchineel tree:
Widely considered the most dangerous tree sap, causing severe skin irritation and eye damage. [But it grows further south than where you are] [zones 10a-12b]
Some may live where you live, and although not technically "poisonous" they can cause Allergic reactions:
poison oak, and poison sumac can trigger severe allergic reactions in many individuals.

I grew up with a bunch of Siberian Elms. Our location was very wet. Those trees were sponges. We would try to split them for firewood the summer after a big branch fell down. And they would splat us with water. As I said, our location was very wet, but other species of tree did not retain water like the Siberian Elms did. I would expect that getting sap would be easy. And it will probably take a lot of boiling to get syrup.

A neighbor still has a few of those trees. I might have the opportunity to try tapping them some day.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson:  Live PNW, Oregon Coastal Range.  Not familiar with Manchineel tree .  I am familiar with poison oak and sumac and tend to get a reaction quite easily.  But I wouldn't consider them trees, or consider trying to capture their sap.  I was just wondering if there were any studies of the most common trees in the US that might indicate what trees would NOT be suitable for tapping.  Or, who would one contact to actually test some sap for safety?