Green King (elm hybrid)

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The elm hybrid Green King was derived from a crossing of the Siberian Elm U. pumila with the American Red Elm U. rubra. Its history is not well documented, but the hybrid appears to have been raised in the USA during the 1960s. The tree is perhaps most notable for its extraordinary rate of growth, claimed to be from 8' (2.5 m) to 11' (3.4 m) per annum, and its resistance to wind and drought. It typically forms a wide base and conical crown [1], not dissimilar to the European Hornbeam Carpinus betulus Pyramidalis. The tree featured in the elm trials [2] conducted by Northern Arizona University at Holbrook, where it was noted that the hybrid had not been "widely tested for resistance to DED (Dutch elm disease)". Its performance in the trials seems to have been insufficently good or bad to warrant any further comment.

Although the tree remains commercially available in the USA, it is no longer widely planted, having been eclipsed by later hybrids such as Homestead and disease-resistant cultivars of the American Elm U. americana. It is not known to have been introduced to Europe or Australasia.