Exeter Elm

''Ulmus'' 'Exoniensis', the Exeter elm, was discovered near Exeter, England, in 1826, and propagated by the Ford & Please nursery in that city.Bean, W. J. (1981). ''Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain'', 7th edition. Murray, LondonRichens, R. H. (1983). ''Elm''. Cambridge University Press.White, J. & More, D. (2003). ''Trees of Britain and Northern Europe''. Cassell's, London.Harvey, J. (1974). ''Early Nurserymen''.  p.104. Phillimore & Co. Ltd. 1975. Traditionally believed to be a cultivar of the Wych Elm ''U. glabra'', its fastigiate shape when young, upward-curving tracery, small samarae and leaves, late leaf-flush and late leaf-fall, taken with its south-west England provenance, suggest a link with the Cornish Elm, which shares these characteristics.

Description

The tree initially has an upright, columnar form, but later develops a large rounded crown and occasionally reaches 17 m in height. Older specimens may develop pendulous branches. Exeter Elm is chiefly distinguished by its contorted leaves, < 11 cm long by 8 cm broad, rounder than the type ychand with more laciniate margins, which occasionally wrap around the branchlets and remain thus well into winter. 'Exoniensis' is often pollarded to produce a denser, fan-shaped crown (see main picture).

File:Ulmus 'Exoniensis' samarae. Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh.jpg, 'Exoniensis' samarae
Image:RN Ulmus glabra Exoniensis winter.JPG, 'Exoniensis' in April
Image:AB Ulmus glabra 'Exon' leaves 2.jpg, 'Exoniensis' foliage
File:Exeter elm leaves.jpg, Dried 'Exoniensis' leaves
File:Ulmus 'Exoniensis'. Lochend House adjoining Lochend Park, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Bole of Exeter Elm
File:Ulmus 'Exoniensis'. Lochend House adjoining Lochend Park, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Old unpollarded Exeter Elm, Lochend Park, Edinburgh, showing pendulous branch
Image:Ulmus glabra 'Exoniensis' grafted on Ulmus minor.jpg, 'Exoniensis' scion grafted on ''U. minor'' stock

Pests and diseases

Chevalier noted (1942) that ''Ulmus montana fastigiata'' (Exeter Elm) was one of four European cultivars found by researchers in The Netherlands to have significant resistance to the earlier strain of Dutch elm disease prevalent in the 1920s and '30s, the others being 'Monumentalis' Rinz, 'Berardii' and 'Vegeta'. The four were rated less resistant than ''U. foliacea'' clone 23, from Spain, later cultivated as ''U. minor'' 'Christine Buisman'. 'Exoniensis' possesses a moderate resistance to the more virulent strain of Dutch elm disease, and consequently often featured in the Dutch elm breeding programme in association with the Field Elm (''U. minor'') and Himalayan Elm ('' U. wallichiana'').

Cultivation

Once commonly planted in the UK and parts of western Europe, 'Exoniensis' is also known to have been marketed in Poland in the 19th century by the Ulrich nursery,Ulrich, C. (1894), ''Katalog Drzew i Krezewow, C. Ulrich'', Rok 1893–94, Warszawa Warsaw, and remains in commerce there. The Späth nursery of Berlin cultivated the tree as ''U. montana fastigiata'' (''U. exoniensis'' Hort.) from the early 20th century. It is possible that three trees supplied by the Späth nursery to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1902 as ''U. montana fastigiata'' were Exeter Elm, old specimens of which survive in Edinburgh (it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city). In Sweden 'Exoniensis' is sometimes pruned from an early age to form a tidy cone-shaped tree called locally 'pyramidalm' (: pyramid elm - also one of Späth's names for 'Exoniensis'). It is found in Australia at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens where it is listed on the Significant Tree Register of the National Trust. An ''Ulmus plumosa'' (a synonym of 'Exoniensis' in continental Europe), of "elegant and pyramidal shape" and "dark green foliage", appeared in the 1902 catalogue of the Bobbink and Atkins nursery, Rutherford, New Jersey.

File:Goteborg Tradgardsforeningen 2.jpg, 'Pyramidalm' pyramid elm(pruned 'Exoniensis'), Garden Society of Gothenburg, Sweden (2014)
File:Göteborg_-_KMB_-_16001000225544.jpg, Same (1944)

Notable trees

Bean (1936) noted a large old specimen, 12 feet in girth, in the garden of the Old Vicarage, Bitton, Gloucestershire. A 180-year-old specimen in Hamburg has attained a height of 28 m and a trunk diameter of 1.45 m. The UK TROBI Champion tree is in Scotland, at Baxter Park, Dundee, measuring 15 m high by 103 cm d.b.h. in 2004.Johnson, O. (2011). ''Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland'', p. 169. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. . The cultivar is represented in Éire by a tree at Birr Castle (Mount Palmer), County Offaly, with a d.b.h. of 29 cm when measured in 2002.

Hybrid cultivars

'Clusius', 'Columella', 'Dodoens', 'Lobel', 'Plantyn', 'Nanguen' = , 'Wanoux' = . The cultivar 'Columella' features the same rough, rounded, contorted leaves, the result of a recessive gene inherited from the Exeter Elm.

'Exoniensis' also indirectly featured in the Italian elm breeding programme as an ancestor of 'Plantyn', which was crossed with clones of the Siberian Elm '' Ulmus pumila'' to produce the cultivars 'Arno', 'Plinio', and 'San Zanobi'.Santini A., Fagnani A., Ferrini F. & Mittempergher L., (2002) 'San Zanobi' and 'Plinio' elm trees

''HortScience'' 37(7): 1139–1141. 2002. American Society for Horticultural Science, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.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

Synonymy

*''Ulmus campestris'' var. ''nuda'' subvar. ''fastigiata oxfortii'' Hort. Vilv., probable misspelling.
*''Ulmus fordii'' Hort.: John Claudius Loudon, Loudon
''Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum'', 3: 1399, 1838

*': John Claudius Loudon, Loudon
''Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum'', 3: 1399, 1838

*''Ulmus montana'' f. ''fastigiata plumosa'' Hort.: Schelle in Beissner et al
''Handbuch der Laubholz-Benennung'' 85. 1903

*''Ulmus ontariensis'' Hort. ex. Steud.
*''Ulmus plumosa'': C. de Vosbr>

*''Ulmus plumosa foliis variegatis'': Cornelis de Vos, botanist, C. de Vos, ''Woordenboek'' 137, 1867.
*''Ulmus suberosa oxoniensis'': Audibert, Tonelle, Tarascon, France Catalogue, 1832, probable misspelling.
*''Ulmus ?'' var. ''replicata'': Masters
''Hortus Duroverni'', 67, 1831
name in synonymy.

Accessions

;Europe
*Arboretum Trompenburgbr>
Netherlands. No details available.
*Brighton & Hove City Council, UK. NCCPG Elm Collection. A number of trees, large specimens at Stanmer Park Arboretum (1), Linkway Lodge, Hollingdean (40+), University of Sussex (3) and Whitehawk Way (2).
*Cambridge Botanic Gardenbr>
University of Cambridge, UK. 1 tree, no accession details available.
* Dubrava Arboretum, Lithuania. No details available.
*Grange Farm Arboretu

Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincs., UK. Acc. no. 829.
*Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia. Acc. nos. 18105,6,7.
* Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala, Sweden. Acc. no. 0000–1006.
*Museum Castle Sypesteyn, Nieuw-Loosdrechtsedijk 150, Loosdrecht, (Wijdemeren, Netherlands) 3 mature trees planted in 1910.
* Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK. Acc. no. 19699363.
*Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Romsey, UK. Acc. nos. 1977.6756, 1977.7086.
* Tallinn Botanic Garden, Estoni

No accession details available.
* University of Copenhagen, Botanic Garden, Denmark. No details available.
* Netherlands Plant Collection Ulmus Wijdemeren, 1 tree planted, 2021 Molenmeent LoosdrechtNetherlands Plant Collection: Iepen, ''Ulmus''
/ref>

;Australasia
*Ballarat Botanical Gardens, Australia. Acc. details not known.

References

External links

* Sheet originally labelled ''U. montana fastigiata glabra'', probably an error for ''U. montana fastigiata'' Exoniensis' from Späth nursery, 1902
* Sheet originally labelled ''U. montana fastigiata glabra'', probably an error for ''U. montana fastigiata'' Exoniensis' from Späth nursery, 1902

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