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 European White Elm in winter
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| Ulmus laevis Pall. |
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Ulmus laevis Pall., the European White Elm, yclept Fluttering Elm, Spreading Elm and, in the USA, Russian Elm, is a large deciduous tree native to Europe, from France northeast to southern Finland, and southeast to Bulgaria and the Crimea; there is also a disjunct population in the Caucasus. Moreover, a small number of trees found in Spain is now considered a relict population rather than an introduction by man, and possibly the origin of the European population [4] 1. Essentially endemic to alluvial forest, it is rarely encountered at elevations above 400 m 2. Most commonly found along rivers such as the Volga and Danube, it is the only elm tolerant of waterlogged, anoxic ground, its extensive shallow root system ultimately forming distinctive high buttresses around the base of the trunk.
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Description
The tree is similar in stature to the Wych Elm, if rather less symmetric, with a looser branch structure and less neatly rounded crown. It typically reaches a height and breadth of > 30 m, with a trunk < 2 m d.b.h. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple ovate with a lop-sided base, < 10 cm long and < 7 cm broad, comparatively thin, often almost papery in texture and very translucent, with a downy underside. The apetalous wind-pollinated flowers appear before the leaves in early spring, produced in clusters of 15-30; they are 3-4 mm across on 20 mm long stems. The fruit is a winged samara 15 mm long and 10 mm broad with a single round 5 mm seed maturing in late spring. In England, trees grown from seed commenced flowering in their 12th year. The tree is distinguished from other European elms by the long flower stems, and is most closely related to the American Elm U. americana, from which it differs mainly in the irregular crown shape and frequent small sprout stems on the trunk 3 4 5.
Pests and diseases
Like other European elms, the European White Elm has little innate resistance to Dutch elm disease, but is not favoured by the vector bark beetles, which colonize it only when there are no other elm alternatives available 6, an uncommon situation in western Europe. Research in Spain 7 has indicated that it is the presence of a triterpene, alnulin, that renders the tree bark unattractive to the beetles. Ergo: the tree's decline in western Europe is chiefly owing to woodland clearance in river valleys, not disease.
Cultivation
Although ideally suited to wet ground conditions, the tree can still grow, albeit more slowly, on drier sites including chalk downland. However, one overriding factor in choosing a site is Exposure. White Elm is comparatively weak-wooded, much more so than Field Elm Ulmus minor, and thus an inappropriate choice for windy locations. In trials in southern England by Butterfly Conservation, young trees of < 5 m height were badly damaged by gusts of 40 knots (75 km/h) in midsummer.
The species was never widely introduced to the USA, but is represented at several arboreta. In the Far East, the tree has been planted in Xinjiang province and elsewhere in Northern China; planting in Tongliao City is known to have been particularly successful. White Elm is also known to have been introduced to Australia 8. Examples in the UK are few and far between, but sometimes of great age. Several old trees survive amid diseased native elm near Torpoint in Cornwall [5]; others can be found in Edinburgh around The Meadows area, London (notably along Riverside Walk, near Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at Peckham and Tooting), Brighton & Hove, and near St. Albans, Hertfordshire.
In recent years, the tree has enjoyed a small renaissance in England. A popular larval host plant of the White-letter Hairstreak Satyrium w-album butterfly across Europe, the elm is now being planted by Butterfly Conservation and other groups to restore local populations decimated by the effects of Dutch elm disease on native or archaeophytic elms 9. The Cheshire Wildlife Trust, for example, is planting 1,000 White Elms on its reserves [6] in the Vale Royal district of the county.
Propagation
Usually easy to grow from seed sown to a depth of 6 mm in ordinary compost and kept well-watered. However, as seed viability can vary greatly from year to year, softwood cuttings taken in June may be a more reliable method. The cuttings strike very quickly, well within a fortnight, rapidly producing a dense matrix of roots.
Notable trees
The two largest known trees in Europe are at Gülitz[7] in Germany (3.1 m d.b.h.), and Komorów in Poland (2.96 m d.b.h.). The UK Champion is at Ferry Farm, Harewood (27 m high, 1.8 m d.b.h.). A reputedly magnificent tree grows in Portland, Oregon, but its dimensions and age are not known.
![[7]](http://www.ulmenbuero.de/handbuch/ulmus/fotos/ulmus_laevis_01_gr.jpg){kind=link}
Forms
In Russia several decorative forms are recognized: f. aureovariegata, f. argentovariegata, f. rubra, and f. tiliaefolia.
Cultivars
Compared with the other European species U. glabra and U. minor, U. laevis has received scant horticultural attention, there being only five recorded cultivars, none of which are known to remain in cultivation, with the possible exception of 'Colorans': Aureo-Variegata, Colorans, Ornata, Punctata, Urticaefolia.
Hybrid cultivars
In common with the American Elm U. americana, U. laevis does not hybridize naturally, and the few reported instances of artificial hybridization in the 19th century are now regarded with suspicion.
Accessions
- North America
- Arnold Arboretum, acc. nos. 17910, 637-79, 6951, 753-80.
- Brenton Arboretum, Dallas Center, Iowa. No details available.
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden [8], New York, acc. no. X02589.
- Dominion Arboretum, Canada. No details available
- Longwood Gardens, acc. nos. 1964-0568, 1964-1119.
- Morton Arboretum, Illinois, acc. nos. 1302-27, 446-48, 492-64, 27-98.
- Europe
- Arboretum de La Petite Loiterie[9], Monthodon, France. No details available
- Arboretum Freiburg-Günterstal [10], Germany, no details available
- Brighton & Hove City Council, UK, NCCPG Elm Collection.
- Copenhagen University, Botanic Garden. No details available.
- ELTE Botanic Garden Budapest, acc. nos. 1998-0718, 1998-0719.
- Grange Farm, Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK, acc. no. 502.
- Great Fontley Farm, Fareham, UK, Butterfly Conservation Elm Trials plantation, Home Field K2 and Platts N10, planted 2003, grown from cuttings of specimen at RBG Wakehurst Place, acc. no. 1973-21048.
- Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia acc. nos. 18136, 18140.
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK, acc. no. 20070643, from seed wild collected in Val d'Allier, France.
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK, acc. nos. 1969-17302, 1973-11712.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Wakehurst Place, UK, acc. no. 1973-21048.
- Royal Horticultural Society Gardens, Wisley, UK. No details available.
- Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK, acc. no. 1981-2446.
- Strona Arboretum [11], University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
- Thenford House arboretum, Oxfordshire, UK. No details available.
- Westonbirt Arboretum [12],Tetbury, Glos., UK, planted 1997, acc. no. 1995/322
Nurseries
- North America
None known
- Europe
- Arboretum Waasland [13], Nieuwkerken-Waas, Belgium.
- Boomkwekerij Oirschot [14], Oirschot, The Netherlands
- Crown Nursery [15], Ufford, Suffolk, UK
- Dulford Nurseries [16], Cullompton, Devon, UK
- Lorenz von Ehren [17], Hamburg, Germany
- UmbraFlor [18], Spello, Italy
Seed suppliers
References
- ^ Fuentes-Utrilla, P., Squirrell, J., Hollingsworth, P. M. & Gil, L. (2006). Ulmus laevis (Pallas) in the Iberian Peninsula. An introduced or relict tree species? New data from cpDNA analysis. Genetics Society, Ecological Genetics Group conference, University of Wales Aberystwyth 2006.
- ^ Girard, S. (2007). Dossier: L'orme: nouveaux espoirs? Forêt entreprise No. 175, Juillet 2007, Institut pour le developpement forestier, Paris.
- ^ Bean, W. J. (1981). Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition. Murray, London.
- ^ Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. pp 1848-1929. Private publication. [1]
- ^ White, J. & More D. (2003). The Trees of Britain & Northern Europe, Cassell's, London.
- ^ Collin, E., Bilger, I., Eriksson, G., & Turok, J. (2000). The conservation of elm genetic resources in Europe. In Dunn, C. P. (Ed.) (2000). The elms: breeding, conservation & disease management. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.
- ^ Martín-Benito D., Concepción García-Vallejo M., Alberto Pajares J., López D. 2005. Triterpenes in elms in Spain. Can. J. For. Res. 35: 199–205 (2005). [2]
- ^ Spencer, R., Hawker, J. and Lumley, P. (1991). Elms in Australia, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Australia. ISBN 0724199624
- ^ Brookes, A. H. (2006). An evaluation of disease-resistant hybrid and exotic elms as larval host plants for the White-letter Hairstreak Satyrium w-album, Part 1. [3]. Butterfly Conservation. Lulworth, UK.
External links
- http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD110E/AD110E01.htm Flora of the Korqin Sandy Lands, China.
- http://www.bioversityinternational.org/publications/Pdf/921.pdf Ecology of the European White Elm
- http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cheshire/news_white_letter_hairstreak.htm The Vale Royal White-letter Hairstreak Project, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, UK
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 December 2008, at 09:29.
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