The elm, Ulmus wallichiana subsp. xanthoderma was identified by Melville

Ronald Melville

Ronald Melville was an English botanist, based at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. He is chiefly remembered for his wartime research into rosehips as a source of vitamin C, prompted by the epidemic of scurvy amongst children owing to the reduced importation of fresh fruit...

 and Heybroek

Hans M. Heybroek

Hans M. Heybroek is a Dutch botanist best known for his researches into the genus Ulmus at the Dorschkamp Research Institute for Forestry & Landscape Planning. Until his retirement in 1992, he was responsible for the raising and release of numerous elm hybrid cultivars, notably 'Columella'...

after the latter's expedition to the Himalaya in 1960. The tree is endemic to Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 and the Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

.

Description

A deciduous tree growing to 30 m with a crown comprising several ascending branches. The bark of the trunk is pale grey, coarsely furrowed longitudinally. The leaves range from 5.6 to 14 cm long by 3 to 7.5 cm broad, elliptic-acuminate in shape, and with a glabrous upper surface, on petioles 7 to 10 mm long. The samarae

Samara (fruit)

A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent . It is a winged achene...

 are orbicular to obovate, the seed central.

Pests and diseases

The tree has a high resistance to the fungus Ophiostoma himal-ulmi endemic to the Himalaya and the cause of Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease

Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...

there.