I have made maybe two dozen bows from this wood. I'm not sure exactly if the species are exactly the same, but you are talking about an elm with small leaves that are not too stiff, and lots of heartwood, right? It smells funny when you cut it, often has that goopy brown discharge from injuries or cut branches, and very slippery inner bark (take a piece of white inner bark and chew it a second, and it will swell, taste sweet, and get all slippery like okra).
Is fine, but admittedly not as good as most of the other elms. The wood is kinda soft, but it is not actually brittle. It's shreddy as heck, stringy, kind of soft in compression, hard to work without splits and tear-out, but can totally make a bow.
I look for it in vacant lots, larger forests, riverbottoms, etc.. where it often grows in little thickets, or against buildings. The street department in my city comes along every few years and cuts it down to the stump where it grow in fences, etc.. and usable staves grow out from those in just a couple years. I love a 4" dia sapling grown in a crowd of other saplings, with only tiny pin knots and no weird kinks in it.
It's good for crowned back flatbows and semi recurves, and mollies, but it will take more set or need more width than other elms. I've never had one break unless bugs got in it, and BTW, bugs and fungus LOVE this stuff. So rough out the bow and quick dry it, restrained because it will warp every direction otherwise. Even then, make the bow as soon as it is dry, because bugs still want it if they can get it. Peel the bark early or it's a hassle.
