The

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

elm

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 ...

''Ulmus × hollandica'' 'Viminalis' osier-leavedwas listed by the

Späth nursery The Späth (often spelt ''Spaeth'') family created one of the world's most notable plant nurseries of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The nursery had been founded in 1720 by Christoph Späth but removed to the erstwhile district of Baumschulen ...

of Berlin as ''Ulmus scabra'' Mill. var. ''viminalis'' in 1890 and as ''Ulmus montana viminalis'' from 1892. Though Späth's catalogues stated that it was "also distributed under the name ''planera aquatica''" (an American species little known in Europe), it remained in his lists under 'elm' and was accessioned by the

Dominion Arboretum The Dominion Arboretum () is an arboretum part of the Central Experimental Farm of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally begun in 1889, the Arboretum covers about of rolling land between Prince of Wales Drive, ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, and by the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

as an elm cultivar. A similar misidentification occurred in the mid-20th century, when the

Siberian elm ''Ulmus pumila'', the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes mistakenly called the "Chinese" elm (''Ulmus parvifolia''). ''U. pumila'' has been widely cultivated throughout A ...

cultivar ''Ulmus pumila'' 'Poort Bulten' was for many years commercially propagated under the name ''

Planera aquatica ''Planera aquatica'', the planertree or water elm, is a species of flowering plant. Found in the southeastern United States, it is a small deciduous tree 10–15 m tall, closely related to the elms but with a softly, prickly nut 10–15 m ...

'' or 'water elm'. As the leaves of osier or ''Salix viminalis'', however, differ markedly from those of ''Planera aquatica'', being long, thin and tapering at both ends, Spath's name 'Viminalis' for this elm cultivar confirms that its leaves were not ''Planera''-like. The probable explanation for the early distribution name is that ''Planera'' was the old name for ''

Zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from the Georgian language, Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Ze ...

'', a close relative of elm with willow-like leaves. It is therefore unlikely that 'Viminalis' was related in any way to the 19th-century elm cultivar ''Ulmus'' 'Planeroides'. Not to be confused with Loudon's ''U. minor'' 'Viminalis'.

Description

The tree was said to have "small pendulous leaves", a description which suggests an ''

Ulmus × hollandica ''Ulmus'' × ''hollandica'' Mill. , often known simply as Dutch elm, is a natural hybrid between wych elm (''U. glabra'') and field elm (''U. minor'') which commonly occurs across Europe wherever the ranges of the parent species overlap. In En ...

'' rather than a

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 ...

cultivar (Späth used ''U. montana'' for both). Beissner noted ''U. montana viminalis'' at the Tübingen botanical gardens, falsely named ''Planera aquatica'', which had 'picturesque long overhanging young branches'.

Pests and diseases

Some examples of ''U.'' × ''hollandica'' possess a moderate resistance to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

One specimen of Späth's ''U. montana viminalis'' was planted at the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa, in 1896. Three specimens were supplied by Späth to the

in 1902, and may survive in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

as it was the practice of the Garden to distribute trees about the city (viz. the Wentworth Elm); the current list of Living Accessions held in the Garden ''per se'' does not list the plant.

Putative specimens

Three old osier-leaved elms which stand in Buckingham Terrace Gardens, on

Leith Links Leith Links is the principal open space within Leith, the docks district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park is divided by a road into two main areas, a western section and an eastern section, both being largely flat expanses of grass bor ...

(Vanburgh Place), and in Middle Meadows Walk, Edinburgh (2017), may be Späth's 'Viminalis'. They are semi-pendulous suckering trees, girth c.3.5 m, with leaves and samarae confirmed by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as likely to be ''U.'' × ''hollandica''. Unnamed ''U.'' × ''hollandica'' cultivar; Herb. Lugd. Bat., Germany File:Unknown Ulmus, Vanburgh Place, Edinburgh (3).jpg, Osier-leaved clone, Leith Links, Edinburgh File:Unknown Ulmus, Vanburgh Place, Edinburgh (4).jpg, Bark of same File:Unknown Ulmus, Vanburgh Place, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Leaves of same File:AZ0082 Ulmus. Vanburgh Place, Edinburgh.jpg, Pressed leaves (juvenile foliage on right) File:AZ0004 Ulmus x hollandica. Edinburgh, Buckingham Terrace. Samarae and new leaves.jpg, Samarae and new leaves of osier-leaved clone, Buckingham Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh

Synonymy

*''U. scabra'' Mill. var. ''viminalis'' ("also called ''Planera acquatica''")Späth, L., Catalogue 79 (1890-91; Berlin), p.115, p.131
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulmus x hollandica 'Viminalis' Dutch elm cultivar Ulmus articles missing images Ulmus Ulmus Edinburgh Spath 1902