Ulmus × viminalis
Encyclopedia
Ulmus × viminalis Lodd. is an elm hybrid derived from the crossing U. minor subsp. minor
Richens × U. minor var. plotii
Druce . W. J. Bean says that the cultivar, which he calls U. 'Viminalis', is one form of a natural hybrid, U. × viminalis, that occurs from Essex
to Oxfordshire
. According to Henry
, this was the tree first described in 1677 by Robert Plot
from specimens growing in an avenue and coppice at Hanwell near Banbury
, though the name 'Plot's Elm' was later given by George Claridge Druce
not to this hybrid but to one of its parents.
The tree was once commonly treated as a variety of Ulmus procera, before it was determined as a hybrid by Melville
.
Bean's description, "a narrow-headed, rather slender tree", and Henry's "tree with ascending branches, pendulous branchlets, and sparse foliage", accord with what would be expected from a crossing of Plot Elm and Smooth-leaved Elm
, and exactly match two graceful mature elms labelled U. minor subsp. minor × U. minor var. plotii in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (2011). These have rather longer, and more, lateral branches than Plot Elm. Ulmus × viminalis is a slow-growing tree which can ultimately reach 20 m in height. Leaves vary according to U. minor subsp. minor parentage, from obovate-elliptic to narrowly-elliptic; they are deeply serrated, < 5.0 cm long, nearly symmetrical at the base and long-acuminate at the tip, with prominent white axil tufts on the undersides. The cultivar form can be mistaken for a variety of birch
. The tree has been likened to Zelkova × verschaffeltii
.
; a specimen at the Ryston Hall http://www.rystonhall.co.uk/, Norfolk
, arboretum, obtained from the Späth nursery
in Berlin
before 1914, was killed by the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease prevalent in the 1930s. The U. minor subsp. minor × U. minor var. plotii hybrids in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, have so far survived the current epidemic where most other elms in the collection have not. They produce copious suckers.
Smooth-leaved Elm
Ulmus minor subsp. minor Richens, the Smooth-leaved Elm, yclept Narrow-leafed Elm and East Anglian Elm, is a subspecies of the Field Elm native to southern Europe and Asia Minor including Iran.-Description:...
Richens × U. minor var. plotii
Plot's Elm
Ulmus minor var. plotii Richens, known as Plot's Elm, or Lock Elm, is found only in England, where it is encountered mainly in the East Midlands, notably around the River Witham in Lincolnshire and in the Trent Valley around Newark on Trent...
Druce . W. J. Bean says that the cultivar, which he calls U. 'Viminalis', is one form of a natural hybrid, U. × viminalis, that occurs from Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
to Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. According to Henry
Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry was an Irish plantsman and sinologist. He is best known for sending over 15,000 dry specimens and seeds and 500 plant samples to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. By 1930, he was a recognised authority and was honoured with society membership in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland,...
, this was the tree first described in 1677 by Robert Plot
Robert Plot
Robert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
from specimens growing in an avenue and coppice at Hanwell near Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
, though the name 'Plot's Elm' was later given by George Claridge Druce
George Claridge Druce
George Claridge Druce, MA, LLD, JP, FRS, FLS was an English botanist and a Mayor of Oxford.G. Claridge Druce was born at Potterspury on Watling Street in Northamptonshire. He was the illegitimate son of Jane Druce, born 1815 in Buckinghamshire.He went to school in the village of Yardley Gobion....
not to this hybrid but to one of its parents.
The tree was once commonly treated as a variety of Ulmus procera, before it was determined as a hybrid 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...
.
Description
Smooth-leaved Elm
Ulmus minor subsp. minor Richens, the Smooth-leaved Elm, yclept Narrow-leafed Elm and East Anglian Elm, is a subspecies of the Field Elm native to southern Europe and Asia Minor including Iran.-Description:...
, and exactly match two graceful mature elms labelled U. minor subsp. minor × U. minor var. plotii in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (2011). These have rather longer, and more, lateral branches than Plot Elm. Ulmus × viminalis is a slow-growing tree which can ultimately reach 20 m in height. Leaves vary according to U. minor subsp. minor parentage, from obovate-elliptic to narrowly-elliptic; they are deeply serrated, < 5.0 cm long, nearly symmetrical at the base and long-acuminate at the tip, with prominent white axil tufts on the undersides. The cultivar form can be mistaken for a variety of birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
. The tree has been likened to Zelkova × verschaffeltii
Zelkova × verschaffeltii
Zelkova × verschaffeltii is a zelkova cultivar of hybrid origin. It was originally described in 1892 by Leopold Dippel from a cultivated plant as Zelkova japonica var. verschaffeltii, suggesting an eastern Asian origin for it...
.
Pests and diseases
The cultivar is very susceptible to Dutch elm diseaseDutch 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...
; a specimen at the Ryston Hall http://www.rystonhall.co.uk/, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, arboretum, obtained from the Späth nursery
Späth nursery
The Späth family created one of the world's most notable plant nurseries of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The nursery had been founded in 1720 by Christoph Späth but removed to the erstwhile district of Baumschulenweg in south-east Berlin in 1863 when Franz Ludwig Späth succeeded his father...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
before 1914, was killed by the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease prevalent in the 1930s. The U. minor subsp. minor × U. minor var. plotii hybrids in the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, have so far survived the current epidemic where most other elms in the collection have not. They produce copious suckers.
Synonymy
- Ulmus antarctica Hort.: Kirchnerhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102729, in Petzoldhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102728 & Kirchner, Arb. Muscav. 551, 1864.
- Ulmus campestris 'Betulinoides': Dieck (ZöschenZöschenZöschen is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalekreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 31 December 2009, it is part of the town Leuna....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) in Haupt-Cat. Nachtrag 1, 1887. - Ulmus campestris var. betulaefolia: LoddigesLoddigesThe Loddiges family managed one of the most notable of the eighteenth and nineteenth century plant nurseries that traded in and introduced exotic plants, trees, shrubs, ferns, palms and orchids into European gardens....
(HackneyHackney CentralHackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street. It is situated north east of Charing Cross...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) catalogue of 1836, and later by LoudonJohn Claudius LoudonJohn Claudius Loudon was a Scottish botanist, garden and cemetery designer, author and garden magazine editor.-Background:...
in Arb. Frut. Brit. 3: 1376, 1838. - U. campestris var. microphylla pendula Hort.: Hartwig & Rümpler, Ill. Geholzb. 580, 1875, as in synonymy.
- Ulmus campestris var. nuda subvar. incisa Hort.Vilv.: WesmaelAlfred WesmaelAlfred Wesmael was a Belgian professor of botany. His outstanding work in taxonomy saw him invited to become Visiting Professor at the University of Washington.-Publications:...
http://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=149831, Bull. Fed. Soc. Hort. Belg. 1862: 389 1863. Considered "possibly U. viminalis" by Green (1964). - Ulmus campestris var. stricta: Audibert, (Tonelle, TarasconTarasconTarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Catalogue, 1817, p. 23. - Ulmus campestris var. virginalis: Lavallée http://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=100281, Arb. Segrez. 235, 1877, in synonymy.
- ? Ulmus campestris viminalis stricta: Boulger http://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=174667, in Gard. Chron. II. 12: 298, 1879.
- Ulmus gracilis Hort.: Kirchnerhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102729, in Petzoldhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102728 & Kirchner, Arb. Muscav. 551, 1864.
- Ulmus 'Masters's Twiggy'. Masters, W. Hortus Duroverni. 1831.
- Hort.: SchelleErnst SchelleErnst Schelle was a German botanist who specialized in cacti. He was employed as Inspector of the Botanical Gardens in Tübingen. The grass species Helictotrichon schellianum Kitag.is named for him.-Publications:...
in BeissnerLudwig BeissnerLudwig Beissner was a German horticulturalist and dendrologist who was a native of Ludwigslust.From 1887 to 1913 Beissner was inspector of the Botanical Gardens of Bonn...
et al., Handb. Laubh.-Benenn. 85, 1903. - Ulmus scabra viminalis gracilis Hort.: Dieck (ZöschenZöschenZöschen is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalekreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 31 December 2009, it is part of the town Leuna....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Haupt-Cat. p. 82, 1885. - Ulmus scabra viminalis pulverulenta Hort.: Dieck (ZöschenZöschenZöschen is a village and a former municipality in the district Saalekreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 31 December 2009, it is part of the town Leuna....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), Haupt-Cat. p. 82, 1885, and Dippel, Handb. Laubh. 2: 30, 1892. - Ulmus suberosa betuloides Hort.: Kirchnerhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102729, in Petzoldhttp://asaweb.huh.harvard.edu:8080/databases/botanists?id=102728 & Kirchner, Arb. Muscav. 553, 1864.
- Ulmus viminalis pendula: Masters, in Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc. 13: 90, 1891.
Europe
- Brighton & HoveBrighton & HoveBrighton and Hove is a unitary authority area and city on the south coast of England. It is England's most populous seaside resort.In 1997 Brighton and Hove were joined to form the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove, which was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the millennium...
City Council, NCCPG Elm Collection http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1108042 UK champion: Upper Larkrise Wood, 23 m high, 50 cm d.b.h., last surveyed in 1995. - Cambridge Botanic Garden http://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/, University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, UK. No details available.
Australasia
- BenallaBenalla, VictoriaBenalla is a city of just over 9,000 people located just off the Hume Freeway in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, about southwest of Wangaratta. Its Local Government Area is the Rural City of Benalla.- Overview :...
Botanic Gardens. Three specimens; listed on the Significant Tree Register of the National TrustNational Trust of AustraliaThe Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
.http://www.anbg.gov.au/chabg/bg-dir/013.html, they are the only known cultivated examples of the hybrid in the country.