Elms are
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
and
semi-deciduous
Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...
trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family
Ulmaceae
The Ulmaceae () are a family (biology), family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the Temperate, north temperate zone, and ha ...
. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
and
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
-
montane regions of North America and Eurasia, presently ranging southward in the Middle East to Lebanon and Israel,
[Flora of Israel Online]
Ulmus minor Mill. , Flora of Israel Online
accessdate: July 28, 2020 and across the Equator in the Far East into Indonesia.
[Fu, L., Xin, Y. & Whittemore, A. (2002). Ulmaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) ]
Flora of China
'', Vol. 5 (Ulmaceae through Basellaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, US.
Elms are components of many kinds of natural
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s. Moreover, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, many species and
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s were also planted as ornamental street, garden, and park trees in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, North America, and parts of the
Southern Hemisphere, notably
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
. Some individual elms reached great size and age. However, in recent decades, most mature elms of European or North American origin have died from
Dutch elm disease, caused by a
microfungus dispersed by
bark beetles. In response, disease-resistant cultivars have been developed, capable of restoring the elm to forestry and
landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following:
# Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...
.
Description
The genus is
hermaphroditic, having
apetalous perfect flowers which are wind-pollinated. Elm
leaves
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...
are alternate, with simple, single- or, most commonly,
doubly serrate margins, usually asymmetric at the base and
acuminate at the
apex. The fruit is a round wind-dispersed
samara
Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...
flushed with
chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...
, facilitating photosynthesis before the leaves emerge.
[Heybroek, H. M., Goudzwaard, L, Kaljee, H. (2009). ''Iep of olm, karakterboom van de Lage Landen'' (:Elm, a tree with character of the Low Countries). KNNV, Uitgeverij. ] The samarae are very light, those of British elms numbering around 50,000 to the
pound (454
g).
[Edlin, H. L. (1947). ''British Woodland Trees'', p.26. 3rd. edition. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd.] (Very rarely anomalous samarae occur with more than two wings.) All species are tolerant of a wide range of soils and
pH levels but, with few exceptions, demand good drainage. The elm tree can grow to great height, the
American elm in excess of , often with a forked trunk creating a vase profile.
Image: Sapporo Autumn Gold, Florence.jpg, 'Sapporo Autumn Gold', Antella, Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
Image:Ulmus glabra.jpg, Wych elm (''Ulmus glabra'') leaves and seeds
Image:Ulmus_rubra_leaf.jpg, Asymmetry of leaf, slippery elm ''U. rubra''
Image:Mature Ulmus rubra bark.jpg, Mature bark, slippery elm ''U. rubra''
Image:Columella flowers.jpg, Flowers of the hybrid elm cultivar 'Columella'
Image:Winged_Elm_Ulmus_alata_2009-05-10.jpg, Corky wings, Cedar elm, ''U. crassifolia''
Image:laciniata samara.jpg, ''U. laciniata'' samara
Image:Lovers' Elm, Gwynne estate, Dufferin Street.jpg, ''U. americana'', Dufferin St., Toronto, c. 1914
File:榔榆 Ulmus parvifolia 20210908101019 02.jpg, '' Ulmus parvifolia'' bark
Taxonomy
There are about 30 to 40
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of ''Ulmus''; the ambiguity in number results from difficulty in delineating species, owing to the ease of
hybridization between them and the development of local seed-sterile vegetatively propagated
microspecies
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each ot ...
in some areas, mainly in the Ulmus field elm (''
Ulmus minor
''Ulmus minor'' Mill., 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 and Iran; its norther ...
'') group.
Oliver Rackham
Oliver Rackham (17 October 1939 – 12 February 2015) was an academic at the University of Cambridge who studied the ecology, management and development of the British countryside, especially trees, woodlands and wood pasture. His books inc ...
[ Rackham, Oliver (1980). ''Ancient woodland: its history, vegetation and uses''. Edward Arnold, London] describes ''Ulmus'' as the most critical genus in the entire British flora, adding that 'species and varieties are a distinction in the human mind rather than a measured degree of genetic variation'. Eight species are endemic to North America and three to Europe, but the greatest diversity is in Asia with approximately two dozen species.
[ The oldest fossils of '']Ulmus
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
'' are leaves dating Paleocene
The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
, found across the Northern Hemisphere.
The classification adopted in the List of elm species is largely based on that established by Brummitt.[Brummitt, R. K. (1992). ''Vascular Plant Families & Genera''. Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, London, UK.] A large number of synonyms have accumulated over the last three centuries; their currently accepted names can be found in the list of Elm synonyms and accepted names.
Botanists who study elms and argue over elm identification and classification are called "pteleologists", from the Greek πτελέα (elm).
As part of the order Urticales, they are distantly related to cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
, mulberries, figs, hops
Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...
, and nettle
Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include:
* ball nettle ...
s.
Ecology
Propagation
Elm propagation methods vary according to elm type and location, and the plantsman's needs. Native species may be propagated by seed. In their natural setting, native species, such as wych elm
''Ulmus glabra'', the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Ural Mountains, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reac ...
and European white elm in central and northern Europe and field elm in southern Europe, set viable seed in "favourable" seasons. Optimal conditions occur after a late warm spring.[Richens, R. H. (1983). ''Elm''. Cambridge University Press.] After pollination, seeds of spring-flowering elms ripen and fall at the start of summer (June); they remain viable for only a few days. They are planted in sandy potting soil at a depth of 1 cm, and germinate in three weeks. Slow-germinating American elm will remain dormant until the second season.[forestry.about.com/od/treeplanting/qt/seed_elm.htm] Seeds from autumn-flowering elms ripen in the fall and germinate in the spring.[ Since elms may hybridize within and between species, seed propagation entails a hybridisation risk. In unfavourable seasons, elm seeds are usually sterile. Elms outside their natural range, such as English elm ''U. minor'' 'Atinia', and elms unable to pollinate because pollen sources are genetically identical, are sterile and are propagated by ]vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is a form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or specializ ...
. Vegetative reproduction is also used to produce genetically identical elms (clones). Methods include the winter transplanting of root suckers; taking hardwood cuttings from vigorous one-year-old shoots in late winter, taking root cuttings in early spring; taking softwood cuttings in early summer; grafting
Grafting or graftage is a horticulture, horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the roots ...
; ground and air layering; and micropropagation. A bottom heat of 18 °C and humid conditions are maintained for hard- and softwood cuttings. The transplanting of root suckers remains the easiest and most common propagation method for European field elm and its hybrids. For specimen urban elms, grafting to wych-elm rootstock may be used to eliminate suckering or to ensure stronger root growth. The mutant-elm cultivars are usually grafted, the "weeping" elms 'Camperdown' and 'Horizontalis' at , the dwarf cultivars 'Nana' and 'Jacqueline Hillier' at ground level. Since the Siberian elm is drought tolerant, in dry countries, new varieties of elm are often root-grafted onto this species.[Clouston, B., Stansfield, K., eds., ''After the Elm'' (London, 1979)]
Image:Ulmus minor MHNT.BOT.2010.12.3.jpg, Ripe samarae of field elm
Image:Rock Elm seedling.JPG, Rock elm ''Ulmus thomasii'' germinating
Image:Klijavac ulmus glabra goc 0427.jpg, Seedling of wych elm ''U. glabra''
Image:Ulmus minor 14.jpg, Root-suckers spreading from field elm ''U. minor''
Image:Root cuttings of Ulmus 'Dodoens'.jpg, Root cuttings of ''U.'' 'Dodoens'
Image:Elm clone rooted hardwood cutting Faculty of Forestry Belgrade 1983.09.01.jpg, Rooted hardwood elm cutting
Image:Rooting of softwood cuttings of elm under the mist propagation system.jpg, Rooting of softwood cuttings under mist
Image:Ulmus campestris 'ARGENTEOVARIEGATA'.jpg, Mutant variegated smooth-leafed elm graft
Image:Air layering of Ulmus pumila Faculty of Forestry Belgrade 7.6.1986.jpg, Air layering of ''U. pumila''
File:Ulmus chenmoui in vitro.jpg, In vitro propagation of ''U. chenmoui'' by bud meristem
In cell biology, the meristem is a structure composed of specialized tissue found in plants, consisting of stem cells, known as meristematic cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of continuous cellular division. These meristematic c ...
File:Ulmus (unknown cultivar). Royal Terrace, Edinburgh (5).jpg, Aerial root
Aerial roots are Root, roots growing above the ground. They are often Plant development#Adventitious structures, adventitious, i.e. formed from nonroot tissue. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids ('' ...
s, hybrid elm cultivar
Associated organisms
File:20130702Ulmus glabra1.jpg, Pouch leaf galls on a wych elm (aphid
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...
''Tetraneura ulmi''), Germany
File:Tetraneura ulmi (Aphididae sp.) gall, Elst (Gld), the Netherlands.jpg, Pouch leaf gall on elm leaf (aphid ''T. ulmi''), the Netherlands
File:Colopha compressa 1 beentree.jpg, Cockscomb leaf galls (aphid ''Colopha compressa''), Poland
File:Eriosoma lanuginosum 1.JPG, Bladder leaf galls on elm leaves (aphid ''Eriosoma lanuginosum''), Italy
File:Eriosoma lanuginosum 2.JPG, Bladder leaf galls on a narrow-leaved elm (aphid '' E. lanuginosum''), Italy
File:Colopha compressa 4 beentree.jpg, Aphids in leaf gall, Poland
File:Ulmus-minor---Eriophyes-ulmicola-agallas.jpg, Pimple leaf galls on a field elm (mite
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...
''Eriophyes ulmi''), Spain
File:WLH Julita.JPG, White-letter hairstreak '' Satyrium w-album'', on , Sweden: The larvae feed only on elm.
File:Satyrium w-album egg1.jpg, Egg of ''Satyrium w-album'' near flower-bud of an elm
File:01a Scolytus multistriatus Imago 20fach rechte Seite.jpg, Elm-bark beetle ''Scolytus multistriatus'' (size: 2–3 mm), a vector for Dutch elm disease
File:04 Scolytus multistriatus Fraßbild.jpg, ''Scolytus multistriatus'' galleries under elm bark
File:Xanthogaleruca luteola 1.JPG, Elm-leaf beetle '' Xanthogaleruca luteola'', which causes serious damage to elm foliage
File:Xanthogaleruca luteola 20060905 525 part.jpg, ''Xanthogaleruca luteola'' caterpillar on elm leaf, Germany
File:Xanthogaleruca luteola 20060905 530.jpg, Elm-leaf damage caused by ''X. luteola'', Germany
File:Slime flux on Camperdown elm.png, Bacterial infection ''Erwinia carotovora'' of elm sap, which causes slime flux (wetwood) and staining of the trunk (here on a 'Camperdown' elm)
Pests and diseases
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease (DED) devastated elms throughout Europe and much of North America in the second half of the 20th century. It derives its name "Dutch" from the first description of the disease and its cause in the 1920s by Dutch botanists Bea Schwarz and Christina Johanna Buisman. Owing to its geographical isolation and effective quarantine enforcement, Australia has so far remained unaffected by DED, as have the provinces of Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
and British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
in western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
.
DED is caused by a microfungus
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
transmitted by two species of '' Scolytus'' elm-bark beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s, which act as vectors. The disease affects all species of elms native to North America and Europe, but many Asiatic species have evolved antifungal genes and are resistant. Fungal spores, introduced into wounds in the tree caused by the beetles, invade the xylem
Xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue (biology), tissue in vascular plants, the other being phloem; both of these are part of the vascular bundle. The basic function of the xylem is to transport water upward from the roots to parts o ...
or vascular system. The tree responds by producing tyloses, effectively blocking the flow from roots to leaves. Woodland trees in North America are not quite as susceptible to the disease because they usually lack the root grafting of the urban elms and are somewhat more isolated from each other. In France, inoculation with the fungus of over 300 clones of the European species failed to find a single variety that possessed of any significant resistance.
The first, less aggressive strain of the disease fungus, '' Ophiostoma ulmi'', arrived in Europe from Asia in 1910, and was accidentally introduced to North America in 1928. It was steadily weakened by viruses in Europe and had all but disappeared by the 1940s. However, the disease had a much greater and longer-lasting impact in North America, owing to the greater susceptibility of the American elm, ''Ulmus americana'', which masked the emergence of the second, far more virulent strain of the disease '' Ophiostoma novo-ulmi''. It appeared in the United States sometime in the 1940s, and was originally believed to be a mutation of ''O. ulmi''. Limited gene flow from ''O. ulmi'' to ''O. novo-ulmi'' was probably responsible for the creation of the North American subspecies ''O. novo-ulmi'' subsp. ''americana''. It was first recognized in Britain in the early 1970s, believed to have been introduced via a cargo of Canadian rock elm destined for the boatbuilding industry, and rapidly eradicated most of the mature elms from western Europe. A second subspecies, ''O. novo-ulmi'' subsp. ''novo-ulmi'', caused similar devastation in Eastern Europe and Central This subspecies, which was introduced to North America, and like ''O. ulmi'', is thought to have originated in Asia. The two subspecies have now hybridized in Europe where their ranges have overlapped.[Webber, J. (2019). What have we learned from 100 years of Dutch Elm Disease? ''Quarterly Journal of Forestry''. October 2019, Vol. 113, No.4, p.264-268. Royal Forestry Society, UK.] The hypothesis that ''O. novo-ulmi'' arose from a hybrid of the original ''O. ulmi'' and another strain endemic to the Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
, '' Ophiostoma himal-ulmi'', is now discredited.[Brasier, C. M. & Mehotra, M. D. (1995). Ophiostoma himal-ulmi sp. nov., a new species of Dutch elm disease fungus endemic to the Himalayas. ''Mycological Research'' 1995, vol. 99 (2), 205–215 (44 ref.) . Elsevier, Oxford, UK.]
No sign indicates the current pandemic is waning, and no evidence has been found of a susceptibility of the fungus to a disease of its own caused by d-factors: naturally occurring virus-like agents that severely debilitated the original ''O. ulmi'' and reduced its sporulation.[Brasier, C. M. (1996). New horizons in Dutch elm disease control. Pages 20-28 in: ]
Report on Forest Research
'', 1996. Forestry Commission. HMSO, London, UK.
Elm phloem necrosis
Elm phloem necrosis (elm yellows) is a disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...
of elm trees that is spread by leafhoppers or by root grafts.[Elm Yellows]
". Elmcare.Com. 19 March 2008. This very aggressive disease, with no known cure, occurs in the Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital.
As of 2011, the Eastern ...
, southern Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
in Canada, and Europe. It is caused by phytoplasmas that infect the phloem (inner bark) of the tree.[Price, Terry.]
Wilt Diseases
". Forestpests.Org. 23 March 2005. 19 March 2008. Infection and death of the phloem
Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is ...
effectively girdles the tree and stops the flow of water and nutrients. The disease affects both wild-growing and cultivated trees.
Occasionally, cutting the infected tree before the disease completely establishes itself and cleanup and prompt disposal of infected matter has resulted in the plant's survival via stump sprouts.
Insects
Most serious of the elm pests is the elm leaf beetle ''Xanthogaleruca luteola'', which can decimate foliage, although rarely with fatal results. The beetle was accidentally introduced to North America from Europe. Another unwelcome immigrant to North America is the Japanese beetle ''Popillia japonica''. In both instances, the beetles cause far more damage in North America owing to the absence of the predators in their native lands. In Australia, introduced elm trees are sometimes used as food plants by the larvae of hepialid moth
Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...
s of the genus '' Aenetus''. These burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Circa 2000, the Asian Zig-zag sawfly '' Aproceros leucopoda'' appeared in Europe and North America, although in England, its impact has been minimal and it is no longer monitored.[Elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda)]
/ref>
Birds
Sapsucker woodpeckers have a great love of young elm trees.
Cultivation
One of the earliest of ornamental elms was the ball-headed graft narvan elm, ''Ulmus minor'' 'Umbraculifera', cultivated from time immemorial in Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
as a shade tree and widely planted in cities through much of south-west and central Asia. From the 18th century to the early 20th century, elms, whether species, hybrids, or cultivars, were among the most widely planted ornamental trees in both Europe and North America. They were particularly popular as a street tree in avenue plantings in towns and cities, creating high-tunnelled effects. Their quick growth and variety of foliage and forms,[Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). ]
The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland
''. Vol. VII. 1848–1929. Republished 2004 Cambridge University Press, their tolerance of air-pollution, and the comparatively rapid decomposition of their leaf litter
Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...
in the fall were further advantages.
In North America, the species most commonly planted was the American elm (''U. americana''), which had unique properties that made it ideal for such use - rapid growth, adaptation to a broad range of climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...
s and soils, strong wood, resistance to wind damage, and vase-like growth habit requiring minimal pruning. In Europe, the wych elm (''U. glabra'') and the field elm (''U. minor'') were the most widely planted in the countryside, the former in northern areas including Scandinavia and northern Britain, the latter further south. The hybrid between these two, Dutch elm (''U. × hollandica''), occurs naturally and was also commonly planted. In much of England, the English elm later came to dominate the horticultural landscape. Most commonly planted in hedgerows, it sometimes occurred in densities over 1000/km2. In south-eastern Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and New Zealand, large numbers of English and Dutch elms, as well as other species and cultivars, were planted as ornamentals following their introduction in the 19th century, while in northern Japan Japanese elm (''U. davidiana'' var. ''japonica'') was widely planted as a street tree. From about 1850 to 1920, the most prized small ornamental elm in parks and gardens was the 'Camperdown' elm (''U. glabra'' 'Camperdownii'), a contorted, weeping cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
of the wych elm grafted on to a nonweeping elm trunk to give a wide, spreading, and weeping fountain shape in large garden spaces.
In northern Europe, elms were among the few trees tolerant of saline deposits from sea spray, which can cause "salt-burning" and die-back. This tolerance made elms reliable both as shelterbelt trees exposed to sea wind, in particular along the coastlines of southern and western Britain and in the Low Countries, and as trees for coastal towns and cities.
This '' belle époque'' lasted until the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, when the elm began its slide into horticultural decline. The impact of the hostilities on Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, the origin of at least 40 cultivars, coincided with an outbreak of the early strain of DED, '' Ophiostoma ulmi''. The devastation caused by the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and the demise in 1944 of the huge Späth nursery in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, only accelerated the process. The outbreak of the new, three times more virulent, strain of DED '' Ophiostoma novo-ulmi'' in the late 1960s, brought the tree to its nadir.
Since around 1990, the elm has enjoyed a renaissance through the successful development in North America and Europe of cultivars highly resistant to DED.[ Consequently, the total number of named cultivars, ancient and modern, now exceeds 300, although many of the older clones, possibly over 120, have been lost to cultivation. Some of the latter, however, were by today's standards inadequately described or illustrated before the pandemic, and a number may survive, or have regenerated, unrecognised. Enthusiasm for the newer clones often remains low owing to the poor performance of earlier, supposedly disease-resistant Dutch trees released in the 1960s and 1970s. In the Netherlands, sales of elm cultivars slumped from over 56,000 in 1989 to just 6,800 in 2004,] whilst in the UK, only four of the new American and European releases were commercially available in 2008.
Efforts to develop DED-resistant cultivars began in the Netherlands in 1928 and continued, uninterrupted by World War II, until 1992. Similar programmes were initiated in North America (1937), Italy (1978) and Spain (1986). Research has followed two paths:
Species and species cultivars
In North America, careful selection has produced a number of trees resistant not only to DED, but also to the droughts and cold winters that occur on the continent. Research in the United States has concentrated on the American elm (''U. americana''), resulting in the release of DED-resistant clones, notably the cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s 'Valley Forge' and 'Jefferson'. Much work has also been done into the selection of disease-resistant Asiatic species and cultivars.[Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. ]
Journal of Arboriculture
'', (November 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US.[Biggerstaffe, C., Iles, J. K., & Gleason, M. L. (1999). ''Sustainable urban landscapes: Dutch elm disease and disease-resistant elms''. SUL-4, Iowa State University]
In 1993, Mariam B. Sticklen and Mark G. Bolyard reported the results of experiments funded by the US National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
and conducted at Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
in East Lansing
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
that were designed to apply genetic engineering techniques to the development of DED-resistant strains of American elm trees. In 2007, A. E. Newhouse and F. Schrodt of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse reported that young transgenic American elm trees had shown reduced DED symptoms and normal mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (; , mycorrhiza, or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant's rhizosphere, the plant root system and its surroundings. Mycorrhizae play ...
l colonization.
In Europe, the European white elm (''U. laevis'') has received much attention. While this elm has little innate resistance to DED, it is not favoured by the vector bark beetles. Thus it becomes colonized and infected only when no other elms are available, a rare situation in western Europe. Research in Spain has suggested that it may be the presence of a triterpene, alnulin, which makes the tree bark unattractive to the beetle species that spread the disease.[Martín-Benito D., Concepción García-Vallejo M., Pajares J. A., López D. 2005.]
Triterpenes in elms in Spain
". ''Can. J. For. Res.'' 35: 199–205 (2005). This possibility, though, has not been conclusively proven.[Pajares, J. A., García, S., Díez, J. J., Martín, D. & García-Vallejo, M. C. 2004.]
Feeding responses by Scolytus scolytus to twig bark extracts from elms
". ''Invest Agrar: Sist Recur For.'' 13: 217–225. More recently, field elms ''Ulmus minor'' highly resistant to DED have been discovered in Spain, and form the basis of a major breeding programme.
Hybrid cultivars
Owing to their innate resistance to DED, Asiatic species have been crossed with European species, or with other Asiatic elms, to produce trees that are both highly resistant to disease and tolerant of native climates. After a number of false dawns in the 1970s, this approach has produced a range of reliable hybrid cultivars now commercially available in North America and Europe.[Santini A., Fagnani A., Ferrini F., Mittempergher L., Brunetti M., Crivellaro A., Macchioni N.,]
Elm breeding for DED resistance, the Italian clones and their wood properties
". ''Invest Agrar: Sist. Recur. For'' (2004) 13 (1), 179–184. 2004.[Santamour, J., Frank, S. & Bentz, S. (1995). Updated checklist of elm (Ulmus) cultivars for use in North America. ''Journal of Arboriculture'', 21:3 (May 1995), 121–131. International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US][Smalley, E. B. & Guries, R. P. (1993). Breeding Elms for Resistance to Dutch Elm Disease. ''Annual Review of Phytopathology'' Vol. 31 : 325–354. Palo Alto, California] Disease resistance is invariably carried by the female parent.[Martin, J., Sobrina-Plata, J., Rodriguez-Calcerrada, J., Collada, C., and Gil, L. (2018). Breeding and scientific advances in the fight against Dutch elm disease: Will they allow the use of elms in forest restoration? ''New Forests'', 1-33. Springer Nature 2018]
/ref>
Some of these cultivars, notably those with the Siberian elm ('' Ulmus pumila'') in their ancestry, lack the forms for which the iconic American elm and English elm were prized. Moreover, several exported to northwestern Europe have proven unsuited to the maritime climate conditions there, notably because of their intolerance of anoxic conditions resulting from ponding on poorly drained soils in winter. Dutch hybridizations invariably included the Himalayan elm ('' Ulmus wallichiana'') as a source of antifungal genes and have proven more tolerant of wet ground; they should also ultimately reach a greater size. However, the susceptibility of the cultivar 'Lobel', used as a control in Italian trials, to elm yellows has now (2014) raised a question mark over all the Dutch clones.[Mittempergher, L., (2000). Elm Yellows in Europe. In: ''The Elms, Conservation and Disease Management.'' pp.
103-119. Dunn C.P., ed. Kluwer Academic Press Publishers, Boston, USA.]
Several highly resistant ''Ulmus'' cultivars have been released since 2000 by the Institute of Plant Protection in Florence, most commonly featuring crosses of the Dutch cultivar 'Plantijn' with the Siberian elm to produce resistant trees better adapted to the Mediterranean climate.[
]
Cautions regarding novel cultivars
Elms take many decades to grow to maturity, and as the introduction of these disease-resistant cultivars is relatively recent, their long-term performance and ultimate size and form cannot be predicted with certainty. The National Elm Trial in North America, begun in 2005, is a nationwide trial to assess strengths and weaknesses of the 19 leading cultivars raised in the US over a 10-year period; European cultivars have been excluded. Meanwhile, in Europe, American and European cultivars are being assessed in field trials started in 2000 by the UK charity Butterfly Conservation.[Brookes, A. H. (2013). ''Disease-resistant elm cultivars, Butterfly Conservation trials report, 2nd revision, 2013.'' Butterfly Conservation, Hants & IoW Branch, England. ]
Landscaped parks
Central Park
The oldest American elm trees in New York City's Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
were planted in the 1860s by Frederick Law Olmsted, making them among the oldest stands of American elms in the world. Along the Mall and Literary Walk four lines of American elms stretch over the walkway forming a cathedral-like covering. A part of New York City's urban ecology, the elms improve air and water quality, reduce erosion and flooding, and decrease air temperatures during warm days.
While the stand is still vulnerable to DED, in the 1980s the Central Park Conservancy undertook aggressive countermeasures such as heavy pruning and removal of extensively diseased trees. These efforts have largely been successful in saving the majority of the trees, although several are still lost each year. Younger American elms that have been planted in Central Park since the outbreak are of the DED-resistant 'Princeton' and 'Valley Forge' cultivars.
National Mall
Several rows of American elm trees that the National Park Service (NPS) first planted during the 1930s line much of the of the National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
in Washington, DC. DED first appeared on the trees during the 1950s and reached a peak in the 1970s. The NPS used a number of methods to control the epidemic, including sanitation
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
, pruning, injecting trees with fungicide
Fungicides are pesticides used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in losses of yield and quality. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals, ...
, and replanting with DED-resistant cultivars. The NPS combated the disease's local insect vector, the smaller European elm bark beetle ('' Scolytus multistriatus''), by trapping and by spraying with insecticide
Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...
s. As a result, the population of American elms planted on the Mall and its surrounding areas has remained intact for more than 80 years.
Uses
Wood
Elm wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
is valued for its interlocking grain, and consequent resistance to splitting, with significant uses in wagon
A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by Working animal#Draft animals, draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people.
Wagons are i ...
-wheel hubs, chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
seats, and coffins. The bodies of Japanese ''Taiko
are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...
'' drums are often cut from the wood of old elm trees, as the wood's resistance to splitting is highly desired for nailing the skins to them, and a set of three or more is often cut from the same tree. The elm's wood bends well and distorts easily. The often long, straight trunks were favoured as a source of timber for keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
s in ship construction. Elm is also prized by bowyers; of the ancient bows found in Europe, a large portion are elm. During the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, elm was also used to make longbows if yew was unavailable.
The first written references to elm occur in the Linear B
Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...
lists of military equipment at Knossos
Knossos (; , ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is a Bronze Age archaeological site in Crete. The site was a major centre of the Minoan civilization and is known for its association with the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur. It is located on th ...
in the Mycenaean period. Several of the chariots are of elm ("πτε-ρε-ϝα", ''pte-re-wa''), and the lists twice mention wheels of elmwood. Hesiod says that ploughs in Ancient Greece were also made partly of elm.
The density of elm wood varies between species, but averages around 560 kg/m3.[Elm](_blank)
. Niche Timbers. Accessed 19-08-2009.
Elm wood is also resistant to decay when permanently wet, and hollowed trunks were widely used as water pipes during the medieval period in Europe. Elm was also used as piers in the construction of the original London Bridge, but this resistance to decay in water does not extend to ground contact.[
]
Viticulture
The Romans, and more recently, Italians, planted elms in vineyards as supports for vines. Lopped at 3 m, the elms' quick growth, twiggy lateral branches, light shade, and root suckering made them ideal trees for this purpose. The lopped branches were used for fodder and firewood. Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
in his ''Amores'' characterizes the elm as "loving the vine": ''ulmus amat vitem, vitis non deserit ulmum'' (the elm loves the vine, the vine does not desert the elm), and the ancients spoke of the "marriage" between elm and vine.
Medicinal products
The mucilaginous inner bark of the slippery elm ('' Ulmus rubra'') has long been used as a demulcent, and is still produced commercially for this purpose in the US with approval for sale as a nutritional supplement by the Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
.
Fodder
Elms also have a long history of cultivation for fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
, with the leafy branches cut to feed livestock
Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
. The practice continues today in the Himalaya, where it contributes to serious deforestation.[Maunder, M. (1988). Plants in Peril, 3. Ulmus wallichiana (Ulmaceae). ''Kew Magazine''. 5(3): 137-140. Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, London.]
Biomass
As fossil fuel resources diminish, increasing attention is being paid to trees as sources of energy. In Italy, the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante is (2012) in the process of releasing to commerce very fast-growing elm cultivars, able to increase in height by more than per year.[Santini, A., Pecori, F., Pepori, A. L., Ferrini, F., Ghelardini, L. (In press). Genotype × environment interaction and growth stability of several elm clones resistant to Dutch elm disease. ''Forest Ecology and Management''. Elsevier B. V., Netherlands.]
Food
Elm bark, cut into strips and boiled, sustained much of the rural population of Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
during the great famine of 1812. The seeds are particularly nutritious, containing 45% crude protein, and less than 7% fibre by dry mass.[Osborne, P. (1983). The influence of Dutch elm disease on bird population trends. ''Bird Study'', 1983: 27-38.]
Alternative medicine
Elm has been listed as one of the 38 substances that are used to prepare Bach flower remedies, a kind of alternative medicine
Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...
.
Bonsai
Chinese elm ('' Ulmus parvifolia'') is a popular choice for bonsai
Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...
owing to its tolerance of severe pruning.
Genetic resource conservation
In 1997, a European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
elm project was initiated, its aim to coordinate the conservation of all the elm genetic resources
Genetic resources are genetic material of actual or potential value, where genetic material means any material of plant, animal, microbial genetics, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity.
Genetic resources is one of the ...
of the member states and, among other things, to assess their resistance to Dutch elm disease. Accordingly, over 300 clones were selected and propagated for testing.[Solla, A., Bohnens, J., Collin, E., Diamandis, S., Franke, A., Gil, L., Burón, M., Santini, A., Mittempergher, L., Pinon, J., and Vanden Broeck, A. (2005). Screening European Elms for Resistance to Ophiostoma novo-ulmi. ''Forest Science'' 51(2) 2005. Society of American Foresters, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.][Pinon J., Husson C., Collin E. (2005). Susceptibility of native French elm clones to Ophiostoma novo-ulmi. ''Annals of Forest Science'' 62: 1–8][Collin, E. (2001). Elm. In Teissier du Cros (Ed.) (2001) ''Forest Genetic Resources Management and Conservation. France as a case study.'' Min. Agriculture, Bureau des Ressources Genetiques CRGF, INRA-DIC, Paris: 38–39.]
Culture
Notable elm trees
Many elm trees of various kinds have attained great size or otherwise become particularly noteworthy.
In art
Many artists have admired elms for the ease and grace of their branching and foliage, and have painted them with sensitivity. Elms are a recurring element in the landscapes and studies of, for example, John Constable
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...
, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Alfred East, George Clausen, Frederick Childe Hassam, Karel Klinkenberg, and George Inness.
File:Constable - Elm trees in Old Hall Park, East Bergholt, 320-1891.jpg, John Constable, ''Elm trees in Old Hall Park, East Bergholt'' 817(''Ulmus × hollandica''[)
File:Constable - Study of an Elm Tree - c1821.jpeg, John Constable, ''Study of an Elm Tree'' ]821
__NOTOC__
Year 821 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Byzantine general Thomas the Slav leads a revolt, and secures control over most of the Byzan ...
File:John Constable 008.jpg, John Constable, ''The Cornfield'' 826(''Ulmus × hollandica''[)
File: John Constable 017.jpg, Constable, ''Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden'' 823 version(''Ulmus × hollandica''][)
File:Jacob George Strutt elms.jpg, Jacob George Strutt, ''Elms at Mongewell, Oxfordshire'' 830(''U. minor'' 'Atinia')
File:Waldmüller - Partie aus dem Prater1.jpeg, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, ''Alte Ulmen im Prater'' (''Old Elms in Prater'') ]831
__NOTOC__
Year 831 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire
* Byzantine–Arab wars (780–1180)#Period of 780–842, Byzantine–Arab W ...
Image:James Duffield Harding - The Great Exhibition of 1851 - Google Art Project.jpg, James Duffield Harding, ''The Great Exhibition of 1851'' (''U. minor'' 'Atinia', centre)
File:Arthur Hughes - Back from Sea.jpg, Arthur Hughes, ''Home from Sea'' 862(''U. minor'' 'Atinia'[)
File:Ford Madox Brown - Work - artchive.com.jpg, Ford Madox Brown, ''Work'' 863(''U. minor'' 'Atinia'][)
File:AmCyc Elm - American Elm (tree).jpg, nknown artist''The American Elm'' 879(''U. americana'')
File:The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy), by Vincent van Gogh, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1947.209.jpg, ]Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
, ''Road Menders at Saint-Rémy'' 889 old elms miscalled planes by the artist
File:Glaspalast München 1890 165.jpg, Johannes Karel Christiaan Klinkenberg, ''Amsterdam'' 890(''Ulmus x hollandica '' ‘Belgica' '' '')
File:Childe Hassam - Champs Elysées, Paris.JPG, Frederick Childe Hassam, ''Champs Elysées, Paris'' 889(''Ulmus × hollandica'', 'orme femelle'[)
File:Hassam Washington Arch Spring.jpg, Frederick Childe Hassam, ''Washington Arch, Spring'' 893(''U. americana'')
File:Alfred East (1844-1913) - Autumn in Gloucestershire - KETTKM , 24 - Kettering Museum and Art Gallery.jpg, Alfred East, 'Autumn in Gloucestershire' .1900(''U. minor'' in Upper Swell)
File:Church at Old Lyme Childe Hassam.jpeg, Frederick Childe Hassam, ''Church at Old Lyme'' 905(''U. americana'')
File:Childe Hassam's 1920 oil, The East Hampton Elms in May.jpg, Frederick Childe Hassam, ''The East Hampton Elms in May'' 920(''U. americana'')
File:GeorgeInnessOldElmAtMedfield.jpg, George Inness, ''Old Elm at Medfield'' (''U. americana'')
File:PSM V65 D491 The cam near trinity college cambridge university.png, Unknown artist, ''The Cam near Trinity College, Cambridge'', England (''U. atinia'')
]
In mythology and literature
In Greek mythology, the nymph Ptelea (Πτελέα, Elm) was one of the eight hamadryads, nymphs of the forest and daughters of Oxylos and Hamadryas. In his ''Hymn to Artemis'', poet Callimachus (third century BC) tells how, at the age of three, the infant goddess Artemis
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
practised her newly acquired silver bow and arrows, made for her by Hephaestus
Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...
and the Cyclopes
In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; , ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguished. In Hesiod's ''The ...
, by shooting first at an elm, then at an oak, before turning her aim on a wild animal:
:πρῶτον ἐπὶ πτελέην, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον ἧκας ἐπὶ δρῦν, τὸ τρίτον αὖτ᾽ ἐπὶ θῆρα.
The first reference in literature to elms occurs in the ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
''. When Eetion, father of Andromache, is killed by Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...
during the Trojan War
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...
, the mountain nymphs plant elms on his tomb ("περί δὲ πτελέας ἐφύτευσαν νύμφαι ὀρεστιάδες, κoῦραι Διὸς αἰγιόχoιo").
Also in the ''Iliad'', when the River Scamander, indignant at the sight of so many corpses in his water, overflows and threatens to drown Achilles, the latter grasps a branch of a great elm in an attempt to save himself ("ὁ δὲ πτελέην ἕλε χερσὶν εὐφυέα μεγάλην".
The nymphs also planted elms on the tomb in the Thracian Chersonese of "great-hearted Protesilaus
In Greek mythology, Protesilaus (; ) was a Greek hero, hero in the ''Iliad'' who was venerated at Temenos, cult sites in Thessaly and Thrace. Protesilaus was the son of Iphiclus (mythology), Iphiclus, a "lord of many sheep"; as grandson of the e ...
" ("μεγάθυμου Πρωτεσιλάου"), the first Greek to fall in the Trojan War. These elms grew to be the tallest in the known world, but when their topmost branches saw far off the ruins of Troy, they immediately withered, so great still was the bitterness of the hero buried below, who had been loved by Laodamia and slain by Hector. The story is the subject of a poem by Antiphilus of Byzantium (first century AD) in the Palatine Anthology:
:Θεσσαλὲ Πρωτεσίλαε, σὲ μὲν πολὺς ᾄσεται αἰών,
:Tρoίᾳ ὀφειλoμένoυ πτώματος ἀρξάμενoν•
:σᾶμα δὲ τοι πτελέῃσι συνηρεφὲς ἀμφικoμεῦση
:Nύμφαι, ἀπεχθoμένης Ἰλίoυ ἀντιπέρας.
:Δένδρα δὲ δυσμήνιτα, καὶ ἤν ποτε τεῖχoς ἴδωσι
:Tρώϊον, αὐαλέην φυλλοχoεῦντι κόμην.
:ὅσσoς ἐν ἡρώεσσι τότ᾽ ἦν χόλoς, oὗ μέρoς ἀκμὴν
:ἐχθρὸν ἐν ἀψύχoις σώζεται ἀκρέμoσιν.
:[:Thessalian Protesilaos, a long age shall sing your praises,
:Of the destined dead at Troy the first;
:Your tomb with thick-foliaged elms they covered,
:The nymphs, across the water from hated Ilion.
:Trees full of anger; and whenever that wall they see,
:Of Troy, the leaves in their upper crown wither and fall.
:So great in the heroes was the bitterness then, some of which still
:Remembers, hostile, in the soulless upper branches.]
Protesilaus had been king of Pteleos () in Thessaly, which took its name from the abundant elms () in the region.
Elms occur often in Pastoral, pastoral poetry, where they symbolise the idyllic life, their shade being mentioned as a place of special coolness and peace. In the first Idyll of Theocritus
Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry.
Life
Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...
(third century BC), for example, the goatherd invites the shepherd to sit "here beneath the elm" ("δεῦρ' ὑπὸ τὰν πτελέαν") and sing. Beside elms, Theocritus places "the sacred water" ("") of the Springs of the Nymphs and the shrines to the nymphs.
Aside from references literal and metaphorical to the elm and vine theme, the tree occurs in Latin literature in the Elm of Dreams in the Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
. When the Sibyl of Cumae leads Aeneas down to the Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
, one of the sights is the Stygian Elm:
:In medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit
:ulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem somnia vulgo
:uana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.
: Spreads in the midst her boughs and agéd arms
:an elm, huge, shadowy, where vain dreams, 'tis said,
:are wont to roost them, under every leaf close-clinging.
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
refers to a Roman superstition (''vulgo'') that elms were trees of ill-omen because their fruit seemed to be of no value. It has been noted that two elm-motifs have arisen from classical literature: (1) the 'Paradisal Elm' motif, arising from pastoral idylls and the elm-and-vine theme, and (2) the 'Elm and Death' motif, perhaps arising from Homer's commemorative elms and Virgil's Stygian Elm. Many references to elm in European literature from the Renaissance onwards fit into one or other of these categories.
There are two examples of ''pteleogenesis'' (:birth from elms) in world myths. In Germanic and Scandinavian mythology the first woman, Embla, was fashioned from an elm,
while in Japanese mythology Kamuy Fuchi, the chief goddess of the Ainu people
The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...
, "was born from an elm impregnated by the Possessor of the Heavens".[Wilkinson, Gerald, ''Epitaph for the Elm'' (London, 1978), p.87]
The elm occurs frequently in English literature, one of the best known instances being in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'', where Titania, Queen of the Fairies, addresses her beloved Nick Bottom using an elm-simile. Here, as often in the elm-and-vine motif, the elm is a masculine symbol:
:Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.
:... the female Ivy so
:Enrings the barky fingers of the Elm.
:O, how I love thee! how I dote on thee!
Another of the most famous kisses in English literature, that of Paul and Helen at the start of Forster's '' Howards End'', is stolen beneath a great wych elm.
The elm tree is also referenced in children's literature. ''An Elm Tree and Three Sisters'' by Norma Sommerdorf is a children's book about three young sisters who plant a small elm tree in their backyard.
In politics
The cutting of the elm was a diplomatic altercation between the kings of France and England in 1188, during which an elm tree near Gisors in Normandy was felled.
In politics, the elm is associated with revolutions. In England after the Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
of 1688, the final victory of parliamentarians over monarchists, and the arrival from Holland, with William III and Mary II
Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...
, of the Dutch elm hybrid, planting of this cultivar became a fashion among enthusiasts of the new political order.[Rackham, O. (1976). ''Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape'' J. M. Dent, London.]
In the American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, the Liberty Tree
The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous Elm, elm tree that stood in Boston, Massachusetts near Boston Common in the years before the American Revolution. In 1765, Patriot (American Revolution), Patriots in Boston staged the first act of def ...
was an American white elm in Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, in front of which, from 1765, the first resistance meetings were held against British attempts to tax the American colonists without democratic representation. When the British, knowing that the tree was a symbol of rebellion, felled it in 1775, the Americans took to widespread Liberty Elm planting, and sewed elm symbols on to their revolutionary flags.[Richens, ''Elm'' (Cambridge, 1983)] Elm planting by American Presidents later became something of a tradition.
In the French Revolution, too, ''Les arbres de la liberté'' (Liberty Trees), often elms, were planted as symbols of revolutionary hopes, the first in Vienne, Isère, in 1790, by a priest inspired by the Boston elm.[ ''L'Orme de La Madeleine'' (:the Elm of La Madeleine), Faycelles, Département de Lot, planted around 1790 and surviving to this day, was a case in point. By contrast, a famous Parisian elm associated with the ''Ancien Régime'', ''L'Orme de Saint-Gervais'' in the Place St-Gervais, was ''felled'' by the revolutionaries; church authorities planted a new elm in its place in 1846, and an early 20th-century elm stands on the site today.][''L'Orme de St-Gervais: biographie d'un arbre'', www.paris.fr](_blank)
Premier Lionel Jospin, obliged by tradition to plant a tree in the garden of the Hôtel Matignon, the official residence and workplace of Prime Ministers of France, insisted on planting an elm, so-called 'tree of the Left', choosing the new disease-resistant hybrid 'Clone 762' ( ''Ulmus'' 'Wanoux' = ). In the French Republican Calendar, in use from 1792 to 1806, the 12th day of the month Ventôse (= 2 March) was officially named "jour de l'Orme", Day of the Elm.
Liberty Elms were also planted in other countries in Europe to celebrate their revolutions, an example being ''L'Olmo di Montepaone, L'Albero della Libertà'' (:the Elm of Montepaone, Liberty Tree) in Montepaone, Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
, planted in 1799 to commemorate the founding of the democratic Parthenopean Republic, and surviving until it was brought down by a recent storm (it has since been cloned and 'replanted'). After the Greek Revolution of 1821–32, a thousand young elms were brought to Athens from Missolonghi, "Sacred City of the Struggle" against the Turks and scene of Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
's death, and planted in 1839–40 in the National Garden. In an ironic development, feral elms have spread and invaded the grounds of the abandoned Greek royal summer palace at Tatoi in Attica
Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...
.
In a chance event linking elms and revolution, on the morning of his execution (30 January 1649), walking to the scaffold at the Palace of Whitehall, King Charles I turned to his guards and pointed out, with evident emotion, an elm near the entrance to Spring Gardens that had been planted by his brother
A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...
in happier days. The tree was said to be still standing in the 1860s.
File:LibertyTreePlanting.jpg, Planting a Liberty Tree (''un arbre de la liberté'') during the French Revolution. Jean-Baptiste Lesueur, 1790
File:Balcony St-Gervais.jpg, Balcony with elm symbol, overlooking the 'Crossroads of the Elm', Place Saint-Gervais, Paris[
File:President George W. Bush and Laura Bush take part in the planting of three elm trees.jpg, President George W. Bush and Laura Bush planting a disease-resistant 'Jefferson' Elm before the White House, 2006
File:TATOI PALACE.JPG, Elm suckers spreading before the abandoned summer royal palace in Tatoi, Greece, Μarch 2008
]
In local history and place names
The name of what is now the London neighbourhood of Seven Sisters is derived from seven elms which stood there at the time when it was a rural area, planted a circle with a walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...
tree at their centre, and traceable on maps back to 1619.[Tottenham: Growth before 1850', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976)]
See also
* List of elm trees
* Elm Conflict
* Fab Tree Hab
References
Monographs
* A scientific, historical and cultural study, with a thesis on elm-classification, followed by a systematic survey of elms in England, region by region. Illustrated.
* Heybroek, H. M., Goudzwaard, L, Kaljee, H. (2009). ''Iep of olm, karakterboom van de Lage Landen'' (:Elm, a tree with character of the Low Countries). KNNV, Uitgeverij. . A history of elm planting in the Netherlands, concluding with a 40 – page illustrated review of all the DED – resistant cultivars in commerce in 2009.
Further reading
* A general introduction, with a history of Dutch elm disease and proposals for re-landscaping in the aftermath of the pandemic. Illustrated.
* A study of the species, with particular reference to the wych elm in Scotland and its use by craftsmen.
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* A photographic and pictorial celebration and general introduction.
External links
*
Tree Family Ulmaceae
Diagnostic photos of Elm species at the Morton Arboretum
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Medicinal plants