The tree grows to a height of 25 m with a
d.b.h. to 80 cm. The bark is grey, longitudinally fissured, and exfoliates in irregular flakes. The branchlets are brown, glabrous, though pubescent when young, and devoid of corky wings. The largely glabrous leaves are
elliptic to
oblong-elliptic 5–11 cm long × 3–4.5 cm wide (
Hui-lin Li in
Flora of Taiwan gives 6–15 cm long by 3–5 cm wide), typically
caudate at the apex; the margins are doubly serrate. 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, in March. 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. This comparison was not repeated in later descriptions. File:Ulmus uyematsui, emergent leaves.jpg|Emergent leaves with dark red colouration File:Ulmus uyematsui, Portchester.jpg|10-year-old tree,
Portchester, England File:U. uyematsui seed.jpg|Samarae File:Ulmus uyematsui leaf with 2 cm scale bar.jpg| Leaf, with scale File:David & Japanese elm leaves.jpg|
Ulmus uyematsui leaf (left) and
Japanese elm leaf (right) ==Pests and diseases==