Green King (elm cultivar)

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The elm cultivar U. pumila Green King was once believed to have been derived from a crossing of the Siberian Elm U. pumila with the American Red Elm U. rubra. However, it appears the tree originated as a sport of U. pumila in 1939 at the Neosho Nurseries, Neosho, Missouri (Green, 1964).

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 (sic) 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 developments such as Homestead and disease-resistant cultivars of the American Elm U. americana. Moreover, its planting is prohibited in Nevada and Oregon.

1 Arboreta etc. accessions
- 1.1 North America
- 1.2 Europe
2 Nurseries
- 2.1 North America
- 2.2 Europe
3 Synonymy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Arboreta etc. accessions

[edit] North America

Morton Arboretum acc. no. 78-69, (listed simply as Ulmus Green King).

[edit] Europe

None known.

[edit] Nurseries

[edit] North America

Stark Bros Nurseries & Orchards Co., Louisiana, Missouri [3]

[edit] Europe

None known.

[edit] Synonymy

Broadleaf Hybrid: Kammerer, E. L. in Bull. Pop. Inf. Morton Arb. 36 (5): 25, 1961.
Field's New Hybrid Elm: Henry Field Seed & Nursery Co., Shenandoah, Iowa, (who renamed the tree 'Green King' circa 1960).
Ulmus Green King: Morton Arboretum Catalogue, 2006.