Ulmus minor subsp. minor Richens, the
Smooth-leafed Elm, yclept
Narrow-leafed Elm and
East Anglian Elm, is a
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
of the
Field ElmUlmus minor , the Field Elm, is by far the most polymorphic of the European species, although its taxonomy remains a matter of contention. Its natural range is predominantly south European, extending to Asia Minor; its northern outposts are the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland, although...
native to southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and Asia Minor including
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
A
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
that once commonly grew < 35 m tall, its Latin synonym
carpinifolia alluding to the superficial similarity of the leaves to those of
HornbeamPlants in the genus Carpinus are commonly called Hornbeams. They are relatively small hardwood trees. Many botanists place the hornbeams in the birch family Betulaceae, though some group them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae...
Carpinus sp., while the common names contrast the smooth upper surface and narrowness of the leaves with those of the Wych Elm, which are rough and broad.
Ulmus minor subsp. minor Richens, the
Smooth-leafed Elm, yclept
Narrow-leafed Elm and
East Anglian Elm, is a
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
of the
Field ElmUlmus minor , the Field Elm, is by far the most polymorphic of the European species, although its taxonomy remains a matter of contention. Its natural range is predominantly south European, extending to Asia Minor; its northern outposts are the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland, although...
native to southern
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and Asia Minor including
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
Description
A
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
that once commonly grew < 35 m tall, its Latin synonym
carpinifolia alluding to the superficial similarity of the leaves to those of
HornbeamPlants in the genus Carpinus are commonly called Hornbeams. They are relatively small hardwood trees. Many botanists place the hornbeams in the birch family Betulaceae, though some group them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae...
Carpinus sp., while the common names contrast the smooth upper surface and narrowness of the leaves with those of the Wych Elm, which are rough and broad. The apetalous perfect wind-pollinated flowers, and fruit (
samaraA 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 . They are winged achenes...
e) are very similar to those of the species.
Pests and diseases
Although the Smooth-leafed Elm is generally susceptible to
Dutch elm diseaseDutch elm disease is a fungal disease of 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 populations of elms which had not had the opportunity...
, it is genetically a highly variable tree and it is possible some specimens survive in the UK owing to an innately high level of resistance (see Cultivation). Research currently (2009) in hand by
CemagrefCemagref is a public research institute in France focusing on land management issues such as water resources and agricultural technology.- Organisation :...
at Le Pepiniére forestiére de l’Etat,
Guémené-PenfaoGuémené-Penfao is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. The name comes from Breton language "gwen" "menez" , "pen" and "faou" . The main economical activity is agriculture.-See also:...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, should confirm this. However, all Smooth-leafed Elm varieties are believed to have been introduced into Britain from central and southern Europe during the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
, and some being beyond their natural climates and environments may be growing slowly and thus producing smaller springwood vessels restrictive to the
Ophiostoma fungus. Good performance in the field may also be owing to resistance to bark beetle feeding or breeding. Moreover, several types of this subspecies also have very pendulous twigs when mature, a factor which could also make them unattractive to foraging beetles .
The subspecies has a moderate to high susceptibility to the elm leaf beetle
Xanthogaleruca luteolaXanthogaleruca luteola, commonly known as the Elm Leaf Beetle, is a serious pest of the elm. Indigenous to Europe, it was accidentally introduced to North America. Both the imagines and larvae feed on the emergent leaves of the elm...
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Xanthogaleruca_luteola, and a moderate susceptibility to
Elm YellowsElm Yellows is a plant disease of elm trees that is spread by leafhoppers or root grafts. Elm Yellows, also known as Elm Phloem Necrosis, is very aggressive and there is no known cure. Elm Yellows occurs in the Eastern US and Southern Ontario. It is caused by phytoplasmas which infect the phloem ...
.
Cultivation
Many mature specimens still survive in England, notably in East Anglia . As the tree suckers readily, its genetic resources are not considered endangered .
Notable trees
The largest recorded tree in the UK grew at
AmwellAmwell can refer to:* Amwell, Hertfordshire in England* Amwell Township, New Jersey in the USA* Amwell Township, Pennsylvania in the USA* Amwell, London , an urban village and part of the district of Clerkenwell in London, UK....
,
Herts.Hertfordshire , abbreviated Herts, is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford....
, measuring 40 m in height and 228 cm d.b.h. in 1911 . The largest known surviving trees are at
East CokerEast Coker is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated two miles south of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,781...
,
SomersetSomerset is a county in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west...
(30 m high, 95 cm d.b.h.), Termitts Farm near Hatfield Peverel,
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
(25 m high, 145 d.b.h.), Scrub Wood near Little Baddow,
EssexEssex is a county in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. The county town of Essex is Chelmsford.-History:In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary...
(25 m high), and Melchbourne,
Beds.Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region....
, (147 cm d.b.h.) .
A tree reputedly over 650 years old survives in the centre of
BiscarrosseBiscarrosse is a commune in the Landes department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It is located southwest of Bordeaux, and inland from the seaside resort of Biscarrosse-Plage on the Atlantic coast....
south of
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
. Isolated amid the heaths and pine forests of the
LandesThe Landes forest or the Landes of Gascony , in the historic Gascony region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest maritime pine forest in Europe...
, it has remained undiscovered by disease-carrying beetles. The tree is a wreck; the trunk, almost 3m in diameter, completely hollow and supporting just a few heavily pollarded branches
http://www.pijouls.com/albums/alblormedebiscarrosse/page_01.htm.
Another tree dated 1000 years or more ago survives in the centre of Sliven, a town in Bulgaria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliven
Cultivars
Numerous cultivars have been raised in Europe since the 18th century, although most are now probably extinct owing to the ravages of Dutch elm disease:
- Albo-dentata, Amplifolia, Biltii, Concavaefolia, Cucullata, Dijkwel, Erecta, Folia Alba-punctata, Hoersholmiensis, Holmstruph, Hunnybunii, Koopmannii, Laciniata, Lanuginosa, Latifolia, Microphylla Purpurea, Microphylla Rubra, Pendula, Picturata, Propendens, Purpurascens, Reverti, Rueppellii, Schuurhoek, Silvery Gem, Sowerbyi, Tortuosa, Umbraculifera, Umbraculifera Gracilis, Variegata (Variegated Smooth-leafed Elm), Virgata
Hybrids
The tree's natural range generously overlaps that of
Wych ElmThe Wych Elm Ulmus glabra
Huds., or Scots Elm, is a large deciduous tree native to Europe, Asia Minor, and the Caucasus. Essentially a montane species, the tree occurs as far north as latitude 67°N at Beiarn in Norway and has also been successfully introduced to Narsarsuaq, near the...
Ulmus glabra to the north, and readily hybridizes with it to produce the so-called 'Dutch Elm'
Ulmus × hollandicaUlmus × hollandica Mill. is a natural hybrid between Wych Elm Ulmus glabra and Field Elm Ulmus minor which commonly occurs across Europe wherever the ranges of the two parent species overlap. It has also been widely planted elsewhere by man .-Pests and diseases:Some examples of...
, while in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
it has also naturally hybridized with the
Siberian ElmUlmus pumila
L., the Siberian Elm, is native to Turkestan, eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Xizang , northern China, India and Korea . It is also known as the Asiatic Elm, Dwarf Elm and Chinese Elm. U...
U. pumila introduced in the 16th century. In England it has also hybridized with Plot's Elm
Ulmus minor var.
plotii to create
Ulmus × viminalisUlmus × viminalis
Lodd. is an elm hybrid derived from the crossing U. minor subsp. minor
Richens × U. minor var. plotii
Druce . The hybrid was first described from specimens growing in an avenue and coppice at Hanwell in England in 1677, possibly...
.
- Ulmus × hollandica
Ulmus × hollandica Mill. is a natural hybrid between Wych Elm Ulmus glabra and Field Elm Ulmus minor which commonly occurs across Europe wherever the ranges of the two parent species overlap. It has also been widely planted elsewhere by man .-Pests and diseases:Some examples of...
, Ulmus × viminalisUlmus × viminalis
Lodd. is an elm hybrid derived from the crossing U. minor subsp. minor
Richens × U. minor var. plotii
Druce . The hybrid was first described from specimens growing in an avenue and coppice at Hanwell in England in 1677, possibly...
.
Hybrid cultivars
The tree has featured strongly in artificial hybridization experiments in Europe and to a lesser extent in the USA. Most of the European research was based at
WageningenWageningen is a municipality and a historical town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specializes in life sciences. The city has 36,224 inhabitants , of which many thousands are students...
in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
until 1992, whence a number of hybrid cultivars have been commercially released since 1960. The earlier trees were raised in response to the initial
Dutch elm diseaseDutch elm disease is a fungal disease of 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 populations of elms which had not had the opportunity...
pandemic that afflicted Europe after the First World War, and were to prove vulnerable to the much more virulent strain of the disease that arrived in the late 1960s. However, further research eventually produced several trees effectively immune to disease which were released after 1989 .
- Alba, Angustifolia, Arno, Aurea, Belgica (Belgian Elm), Cinerea, Clusius, Columella, Commelin
Ulmus 'Commelin was one of two Dutch hybrids released for sale in 1960. Raised at Baarn by the Foundation Willie Commelin Scholten Phytopathological Laboratory in 1940 from a crossing of Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta' and a selection of Ulmus minor from the Barbier nursery, Orleans, made in...
, DampieriUlmus × hollandica Dampieri is one of a number of cultivars arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with a variety of Field Elm U. minor, originally identified as Ulmus campestris var. nuda subvar...
, DauvesseiUlmus × hollandica Dauvessei is a very rare cultivar of unknown provenance.-Description:The branches ascend to form a broad, pyramidal crown; the leaves bear a vague resemblance to Wych Elm, but are generally smaller, rarely exceeding 10 cm long by 5 cm wide, and thinner in texture...
, Daveyi (Davey Elm), Den Haag, Dumont, Eleganto-Variegata, Fiorente, Fjerrestad, FrontierThe American hybrid cultivar Ulmus Frontier is a U. S. National Arboretum introduction derived from a crossing of the European Smooth-leafed, yclept Narrow-leafed, Elm Ulmus minor subsp. minor with the Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia in 1971...
, Fulva, Gaujardii, Groeneveld, Haarlemensis, Hillieri, HomesteadThe American hybrid cultivar Ulmus Homestead was released for sale in 1984. Developed by the United States National Arboretum, it shares the same ancestry as 'Regal', and 'Urban', derived from the crossing of the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila with .-Description: The tree rapidly produces very upright...
, LobelA Dutch hybrid cultivar raised at Wageningen, Ulmus Lobel was derived from a crossing of clone 202 with 336 , cloned in 1962 and released for sale in 1973.-Description:...
, Major (Dutch Elm), Macrophylla Aurea, Marginata, Microphylla, Modiolina, Muscaviensis, Nanguen (LUTECE), PioneerThe elm hybrid cultivar Ulmus × hollandica Pioneer is an American clone arising from the crossing of two European species, Wych Elm U. glabra and Smooth-leaved Elm U. minor subsp...
, PlantynPlantyn was one of three Dutch hybrid elms released in 1973. Derived from a crossing of the Dutch hybrids '202' and '302' , it was to prove of great significance in later developments...
, Plinio , Pulverulenta, Recerta, San Zanobi, Scampstoniensis, Serpentina, Smithii (Downton Elm), Superba, Tricolor, UrbanUrban is an American hybrid elm cultivar derived from the same ancestry as 'Homestead' and 'Regal', comprising the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila, the early Dutch hybrid 'Commelin', and a Danish field elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Hoersholmiensis'...
, Vegeta (Huntingdon Elm), Vegeta (Chichester Elm), Virens (Kidbrook Elm), Viscosa, Warnoux (VADA), Wredei (Golden Elm), Ypreau.
North America
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Park Slope neighborhoods, the garden includes a number of specialty "gardens within the Garden," plant collections, and the Steinhardt Conservatory,...
http://www.bbg.org/cgi/bgbase/search.cgi, New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, acc. nos. 350001, X02487 (as U. carpinifolia).
- Dawes Arboretum
The Dawes Arboretum is a non-profit arboretum located outside of Columbus in Newark, Ohio. As one of the premier public gardens in North America, The Dawes Arboretum has over of plant collections, gardens and natural areas...
http://www.dawesarb.org/collectionsgardens/plant-search.asp, NewarkNewark is a city in and the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, 33 miles east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. In 1890, 14,270 people lived in Newark, Ohio; in 1900, 18,157; in 1910, 25,404; in 1920, 27,718; and in 1940, 31,487...
, OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
. 3 trees, listed as U. carpinifolia, no acc. details available.
- Dominion Arboretum
The Dominion Arboretum is located at the Central Experimental Farm of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.Originally begun in 1889 the Arboretum covers about 26 ha of rolling land between Prince of Wales Drive, Dow's Lake and the Rideau Canal. Carleton University is located...
, OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
, CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Listed as U. carpinifolia. No acc. details available.
Europe
- Brighton & Hove
Brighton and Hove is a unitary authority area and city on the south coast of England. It is England's most populous seaside resort....
City Council, NCCPG elm collection holders.
- Royal Botanic Garden, Wakehurst Place, as U. carpinifolia Gled., acc. nos. 1975-6201, 1977-6682, collected by Melville.
Europe
Australasia