Scots 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 reaches its southern limit in Europe; it is also found in Iran. A large deciduous tree, it is essentially a montane species, growing at altitudes up to , preferring sites with moist soils and high humidity.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 tree can form pure forests in Scandinavia and occurs as far north as latitude 67°N at Beiarn Municipality in Norway. It has been successfully introduced as far north as Tromsø and Alta in northern Norway (70°N). It has also been successfully introduced to Narsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland ( 61°N).

The tree was by far the most common elm in the north and west of the British Isles and is now acknowledged as the only indisputably British native elm species. Owing to its former abundance in Scotland, the tree was occasionally (primarily historically) known as Scots elm; Loch Lomond is said to be a corruption of the Gaelic ''Lac Leaman'' interpreted by some as 'Lake of the Elms', 'leaman' being the plural form of leam or lem, 'elm'.Richens, R. H. (1983). ''Elm''. Cambridge University Press.

Closely related species, such as Bergmann's elm ''U. bergmanniana'' and Manchurian elm ''U. laciniata'', native to northeast Asia, were once sometimes included in ''U. glabra'';Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913).
The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland
'. Vol. VII. 1848–1929. Republished 2014 Cambridge University Press, another close relative is the Himalayan or Kashmir elm ''U. wallichiana''. Conversely, '' Ulmus elliptica'' from the Caucasus, considered a species by many authorities, is sometimes listed as a regional form of ''Ulmus glabra''.

Etymology

The word "wych" (also spelled "witch") comes from the Old English , meaning pliant or supple, which also gives definition to wicker and weak. Jacob George Strutt's 1822 book, ''Sylva Britannica'' attests that the Wych Elm was sometimes referred to as "Wych Hazel", a name now applied to the unrelated genus ''Hamamelis'', commonly called "wych hazels".

Classification

Subspecies

Some botanists, notably Lindquist (1931), have proposed two subspecies:
* ''U. glabra'' subsp. ''glabra'' in the south of the species' range: broad leaves with short tapering base and acute lobes; trees often with a short, forked trunk and a low, broad crown;
* ''U. glabra'' subsp. ''montana'' (Stokes) Lindqvist in the north of the species' range (northern Britain, Scandinavia): leaves narrower, with a long tapering base and without acute lobes; trees commonly with a long single trunk and a tall, narrow crown.

Much overlap is seen between populations with these characters, and the distinction may owe to environmental influence, rather than genetic variation; the subspecies are not accepted by either ''Flora Europaea'' or ''Plants of the World Online''.Flora Europaea: ''Ulmus glabra''
/ref>

Image:Wych Elm in Bloom - geograph.org.uk - 1277831.jpg, Wych elm near Castle Douglas, Galloway, late April
File:Elm, Scandale Beck - geograph.org.uk - 1883123.jpg, Wych elm, Scandale Beck, Cumbria, May
File:Ulmus glabra subsp. montana. Near Jack Kane Sports Centre, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Wych elm, Edinburgh, October

Description

The type sometimes reaches heights of , typically with a broad crown where open-grown, supported by a short bole up to diameter at breast height (DBH). Normally, root suckers are not seen; natural reproduction is by seed alone. The tree is notable for its very tough, supple young shoots, which are always without the corky ridges or 'wings' characteristic of many elms. The alternate leaves are deciduous, 6–17 cm long by 3–12 cm broad, usually obovate with an asymmetric base, the lobe often completely covering the short (<5 mm) petiole; the upper surface is rough. Leaves on juvenile or shade-grown shoots sometimes have three or more lobes near the apex.Coleman, M (ed.). (2009). ''Wych Elm''. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. . The perfect hermaphrodite flowers appear before the leaves in early spring, produced in clusters of 10–20; they are 4 mm across on 10 mm long stems, and being wind-pollinated, are apetalous. The fruit is a winged samara 20 mm long and 15 mm broad, with a single, round, 6 mm seed in the centre, maturing in late spring.Bean, W. J. (1981). ''Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain'', 7th edition. Murray, London.White, J. & More, D. (2003). ''Trees of Britain and Northern Europe''. Cassell's, London The roots can be of extraordinary length: one at Auchencraig, Larg, Ayershire, Scotland has roots which have been traced for a length of 110 metres from the trunk.

File:Ulmus glabra flowers - Keila.jpg, Flowers
File:Wych elm flowers and nascent seeds.jpg, Nascent seeds
File:Ulmus glaba. Hawthornvale Path, Edinburgh. Samarae.jpg, Samarae, showing seed on stalk side of centre
File:Ulmus glabra.jpg, Typical unlobed leaves
File:Ulmus glabra 001.jpg, Leaves with extra lobes
File:Lomnice nad Popelkou - Jilm pod křížovou cestou, Ulmus glabra, listy.jpg, September foliage
File: Wych elm bark.jpg, Bark, estimated age 100 years
Image:Ulmus glabra. Duddingston, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Bole of old specimen
File:Klijavac ulmus glabra goc 0427.jpg, Seedling, showing cotyledons (K)

Pests and diseases

While the species is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease,Forestry Commission. ''Dutch elm disease in Britain'', UK
/ref>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. it is less favoured as a host by the elm bark beetles, which act as vectors. Research in Spain has indicated the presence of a triterpene, alnulin, rendering the tree bark less attractive to the beetle than the field elm, though at 87 μg/g dried bark, its concentration is not as effective as in '' Ulmus laevis'' (200 μg/g). Moreover, once the tree is dying, its bark is quickly colonized by the fungus '' Phoma'', which radically reduces the amount of bark available for the beetle to breed on. In European trials, clones of apparently resistant trees were inoculated with the pathogen, causing 85 – 100% wilting, resulting in 68% mortality by the following year. DNA analysis by Cemagref (now Irstea) in France has determined the genetic diversity within the species is very limited, making the chances of a resistant tree evolving rather remote.Solla et al. (2005)
"Screening European Elms for Resistance to Ophiostoma novo-ulmi".
''Forest Science'', 134–141. 51 (2) 2005. Society of American Foresters.

A 300-year-old example growing in Grenzhammer, Ilmenau has allegedly been scientifically proven to be resistant to Dutch elm disease.

The Swedish Forest Tree Breeding Association at Källstorp produced triploid and tetraploid forms of the tree, but these proved no more resistant to Dutch elm disease than the normal diploid form.

In trials conducted in Italy, the tree was found to have a slight to moderate susceptibility to elm yellows, and a high susceptibility to the elm leaf beetle ''Xanthogaleruca luteola''.
File:Jedburgh Giant... a rare wych elm that survived black elm disease.jpg, 200-year-old wych, Jedburgh Abbey, a survivor (2024) in area of high DED infectivity.'Borders Wych (Elm) Hunt', Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2024
/ref>

Cultivation

The wych elm is moderately shade-tolerant, but requires deep, rich soils as typically found along river valleys.Edlin, H. L. (1949). ''British woodland trees''. Batsford, London. The species is intolerant of acid soils and flooding, as it is of prolonged drought.CAB International (2005) ''Forestry Compendium''. CAB International, Wallingford, UK Although rarely used as a street tree owing to its shape, it can be surprisingly tolerant of urban air pollution, constricted growing conditions, and severe pollarding.

As wych elm does not sucker from the roots, and any seedlings are often consumed by uncontrolled deer populations, regeneration is very restricted, limited to sprouts from the stumps of young trees. The resultant decline has been extreme, and the wych elm is now uncommon over much of its former range. It is best propagated from seed or by layering stooled stock plants, although softwood cuttings taken in early June will root fairly reliably under mist.Beckett, K. & G. (1979). ''Planting Native Trees and Shrubs''. Jarrold & Sons, Norwich, UK.

Wych elm was widely planted in Edinburgh in the 19th century as a park and avenue tree, and despite losses, it remains abundant there, regenerating through seedlings. It was introduced to New England in the 18th century, to Canada (as ''U. montana'' at the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa) and Australia in the 19th century.

File:Edin-Meadows 10A.jpg, Wych, The Meadows, Edinburgh, 1989
File:Ulmus glabra. Burr on trunk. Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Burr-wych, Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh, 2016
File:Ulmus glabra. By the bridge over the Water of Leith, opposite Bridge Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh.jpg, Burl-wych, Stockbridge, Edinburgh, 2016
File:Ulmus glabra. Learmonth Gardens, Edinburgh(2).jpg, Wych, Learmonth Gardens, Edinburgh, 2016
File:Ulmus glabra (showing autumn colouring). Middle Meadows Walk, Edinburgh.jpg, Wych, Middle Meadows Walk, Edinburgh, 2016
File:Ulmus glabra (2). Learmonth Gardens, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Fastigiate form of wych, Learmonth Gardens, Edinburgh, 2016
File:Pelhřimov, jilm horský 2. celek jih.jpg, ''Ulmus glabra'' Huds., Pelhřimov, Czech Republic, 2017
File:Elm trees at Skansen Tromsø.jpg, Tromsø, Norway, June 2022

Uses

Lumber

Wych elm wood is prized by craftsmen for its colouring, its striking grain, its 'partridge-breast' or 'catspaw' markings, and when worked, its occasional iridescent greenish sheen or 'bloom'. The bosses on old trees produce the characteristic fissures and markings of 'burr elm' wood. Bosses fringed with shoots are burrs, whereas unfringed bosses are burls.

Image: Wych elm wood grain.jpg, Untreated wood grain of wych elm
Image: Burr_Wych_Elm.jpg, Waxed wood grain of burr wych elm
File:Ulmus glabra. Burr on trunk. Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Burr on wych bole, Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh
File:Ulmus glabra. Burr or burl on trunk. Regent Road, Edinburgh.jpg, Burl on wych bole, Regent Road, Edinburgh
File:Ulmus glabra. Burrs or burls on trunk and branches. Dalry Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg, Burls on trunk and branches of wych elm, Dalry Cemetery, Edinburgh
File:Elm tree with crown galls, Stevenston, North Ayrshire.jpg, Crown galls (burls on outer branches) on wych elm, North Ayrshire

Medicine

In 18th century France, the inner bark of ''Ulmus glabra'', ''orme pyramidale'', had a brief reputation as a panacea;Georges Dujardin-Beaumetz, ''Formulaire pratique de thérapeutique et de pharmacologie'', 1893
p. 260
/ref>
"it was taken as a powder, as an extract, as an elixir, even in baths. It was good for the nerves, the chest, the stomach — what can I say? — it was a true panacea."Gaston de Lévis, ''Souvenirs et portraits, 1780-1789'', 1813
p. 240
/ref> It was this so-called "pyramidal elm bark" about which Michel-Philippe Bouvart famously quipped "Take it, Madame... and hurry up while it tillcures." It still appeared in a pharmacopeia of 1893.

Notable trees

Possibly the oldest wych elm in Europe grew at Beauly Priory in Inverness-shire, Scotland; the tree succumbed to Dutch elm disease in 2022 and collapsed the following year. The priory was founded circa 1230, the tree already in existence.

The UK Champion listed in the Tree Register of the British Isles was at Brahan in the Scottish Highlands (died 2021Coleman, Max, 'Wake-up call to climate change'; Botanics Stories, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2022
/ref>); it had a girth of 703 cm (2.23 m DBH) and a height of 24 m. Possibly the oldest specimen in England was found in 2018 in a field north of Hopton Castle in Shropshire. Coppiced long ago, its bole girth measured 6.3 m in 2018. The oldest specimen in Edinburgh is believed to be the tree (girth 5.2 m) in the former grounds of Duddingston House, now Duddingston Golf Course. Other notable specimens in Edinburgh are to be found in Learmonth Gardens and The Meadows.

In Europe, a large tree planted in 1620 grows at Bergemolo, 5 km south of Demonte in Piedmont, Italy (bole-girth 6.2 m, 2.0 m DBH, height 26 m., 2008).Association of Nature Patriarchs in Italy
Piemonte - Olmo di Bergemolo
access-date: 23 November 2016 Other ancient specimens grow at Styria, in Austria, and at Grenzhammer, Germany (see Gallery). In 1998, over 700 healthy, mature trees were discovered on the upper slopes of Mount Šimonka in Slovakia, but they are believed to have survived courtesy of their isolation from disease-carrying beetles rather than any innate resistance; 50 clones of these trees were presented to the Prince of Wales for planting at his Highgrove Estate, and at Clapham, Yorkshire.

In literature

E. M. Forster cites a particular wych elm, one that grew at his childhood home of Rooks Nest, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, 16 times in his novel ''Howards End''. This tree overhangs the house of the title and is said to have a "...girth that a dozen men could not have spanned..." Forster describes the tree as "...a comrade, bending over the house, strength and adventure in its roots." The wych elm of the novel had pigs' teeth embedded in the trunk by country people long ago and it was said that chewing some of the bark could cure toothache. In keeping with the novel's epigraph, "Only connect...", the wych elm may be seen by some as a symbol of the connection of humans to the earth. Margaret Schlegel, the novel's protagonist, fears that any "....westerly gale might blow the wych elm down and bring the end of all things..." The tree is changed to a chestnut in the 1991 film adaptation of ''Howards End''.

File:Ilmenau Grenzhammer Ulme.JPG, 300-year-old ''U. glabra'' (after lopping), Grenzhammer, Ilmenau, Germany
File:U. glabra at Bergemolo 2017, 2.jpg, ''U. glabra'', planted 1620, Bergemolo, near Demonte, Italy
File:Hopton Castle ancient coppiced wych elm.jpg, ''U. glabra'', Hopton Castle, Shropshire, England
File:Ulmus glabra. Duddingston, Edinburgh (2).jpg, The Duddingston elm (girth 5.2 m), Edinburgh
File:Wych elm growing out of itself (10577)2.jpg, Old wych regenerating, Boston Public Garden (2022)
File:Wych elm, Gleann na Cìche (geograph 7210938).jpg, The Last Ent of Affric, Glen Affric (2022)Coleman, Max, 'Last Ent set to repopulate Glen Affric'; Botanics Stories, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2024
/ref>

Cultivars

About 40 cultivars have been raised, although at least 30 are now probably lost to cultivation as a consequence of Dutch elm disease and/or other factors:

'Exoniensis', Exeter Elm, has traditionally been classified as a form of ''U. glabra''.

Hybrids and hybrid cultivars

''U. glabra'' hybridises naturally with '' U. minor'', producing elms of the ''Ulmus × hollandica'' group, from which have arisen a number of cultivars:

However, hybrids of ''U. glabra'' and '' U. pumila'', the Siberian elm, have not been observed in the field and only achieved in the laboratory, though the ranges of the two species, the latter introduced by man, overlap in parts of Southern Europe, notably Spain. A crossing in Russia of ''U. glabra'' and ''U. pumila'' produced the hybrid named '' Ulmus × arbuscula''; a similar crossing was cloned ('FL025') by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), Florence, as part of the Italian elm breeding programme circa 2000.

Hybrids with ''U. glabra'' in their ancestry have featured strongly in recent artificial hybridisation experiments in Europe, notably at Wageningen in the Netherlands, and a number of hybrid cultivars have been commercially released since 1960. The earlier trees were raised in response to the initial Dutch elm disease 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.
*Arno, Clusius, Columella, Commelin, Den Haag, Dodoens, Groeneveld, Homestead, Lobel, Nanguen = , Pioneer, Plinio, Regal, San Zanobi, Urban, Wanoux = .

Accessions

;Europe
* eld in nearly all arboreta
;North America
*Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. no. 391–2001, wild collected in Georgia
*Bartlett Tree Experts, US. Acc. nos. 1505, 5103, origin undisclosed
*Dawes Arboretumbr>
US. 6 trees, no acc. details available
*Missouri Botanical Gardenbr>
US. Acc. nos. 1969–6164, 1986–0160
*Morton Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 591–54, 255–81, and by its synonym ''U. sukaczevii'', acc. nos. 949–73, 181–76

;Australasia
*Eastwoodhill Arboretu

Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne, New Zealand. 8 trees, details not known.

In art

Image:Samuel Bough Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street.jpg, Wych elms, Samuel Bough, ''Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street'', c.1878

See also

* Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? – graffiti that appeared in 1944 following the discovery of the remains of a woman inside a wych elm in Worcestershire, England

References

Further reading

* Coleman, Max, ed.: ''Wych Elm'' (Edinburgh, 2009; ). A study of the species, with particular reference to the wych elm in Scotland and its use by craftsmen.

External links

* ''Ulmus glabra'' distribution map: linnaeus.nrm.s


Jobling & Mitchell, 'Field Recognition of British Elms', Forestry Commission Booklet

''U. glabra'', Flora of North America, www.efloras.org

''Ulmus glabra''
information, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)

Clarkson, R. & Coleman, M. (2022)
'Propagating healthy mature elms that have survived in areas severely impacted by Dutch elm disease: a scoping study for a wych elm project in Scotland.' Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

''The Forest Plantations'' (Greenland)

''Synonymy list''

''Grow wych elm from seed''

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