Guernsey Elm
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 Guernsey Elm, West Ride, Preston Park, Brighton.
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| Ulmus minor subsp. sarniensis (C.K.Schneid.) Stace |
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Ulmus campestris var. monumentalis Rinz. Ulmus campestris var. nuda subvar. fastigiata oxfortii Hort. Wesmael Ulmus Monument Ulmus Sarniensis: Lodd. and Boom Ulmus nitens (: minor) var. Wheatleyi Simon-Louis Ulmus Wheatley |
The Guernsey Elm U. minor subsp. sarniensis Stace, yclept Jersey Elm, Wheatley Elm, Southampton Elm, once enjoyed much popularity in England, where it was widely cultivated for street planting. However the Dutch elm disease pandemic has now destroyed all the mature trees save a few at Preston Park in the centre of Brighton.
The appeal of the tree lay chiefly in its compact, columnar form, not dissimilar to the Lombardy Poplar. Rarely exceeding a height of 27 m, the tree has long stiff ascending branches forming a narrow pyramidal crown. It was granted the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1969 just a few years before Dutch elm disease decimated it, and because of the disease susceptibility it is no longer planted. The small leaves and samarae are similar to those of the Field Elm group in general; like others of the group, the tree suckers very freely.
The origin of the tree remains obscure. The largest surviving specimen of Guernsey Elm is in Preston Park, Brighton. This tree is 34 m tall with a trunk 115 cm d.b.h. (diameter at breast height) in 2006, part of a line of trees averaging 30 m in height planted circa 1880. The Guernsey Elm was introduced to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight by Albert the Prince Consort, where it survives today as suckers along a lane leading to Barton Manor Farm. A golden-leaved form, Dicksonii, was raised in Chester in 1900 by the Dickson nursery, which marketed it as the Golden Cornish Elm.
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[edit] Cultivars
- ?Microphylla Pendula, Purple Leaf Jersey Elm
[edit] Hybrid cultivars
None known.
[edit] Arboreta etc. accessions
[edit] North America
- Holden Arboretum, as U. x Sarniensis, acc. no. 56-185.
- Morton Arboretum, as U. carpinifolia Sarniensis, acc. nos. 591-22, 212-40, 1043-41, all garden collected.
- Smith College, as U. carpinifolia Sarniensis, acc. no. 8120PA.
[edit] Europe
- Brighton & Hove City Council, UK, NCCPG elm collection, world's largest known living specimen in Preston Park, Brighton (2007).
- Royal Botanic Garden, Wakehurst Place, UK, as U. x Sarniensis, acc. nos. 1977-67, 1977-68, collected by Melville.
[edit] Nurseries
[edit] North America
None known.
[edit] Europe
- Plantentuin Esveld, Netherlands, [1], as U. carpinifolia Sarniensis
[edit] Etymology
The tree is named for the Channel Island (Sarnia = Roman name for Guernsey), whence it may have originated. A similar tree is found along the Brittany coast, referred to in several 18th and 19th century French treatises as 'l'Orme male' owing to its phallic resemblance and it is still sometimes referred to as the Male Elm in Guernsey, although no mature trees survive there either. The synonym Wheatley Elm was derived from a tree planted at Wheatley Park, Doncaster, whither it was introduced and propagated by Sir William Cooke in the early 19th century. The tree was also raised in great numbers at the Rogers nursery in Southampton in the late 1800s, which probably explains the synonym Southampton Elm. Although the tree is also known as the Jersey Elm, its introduction from Guernsey has been clearly chronicled.
[edit] References
- Armstrong, J. V. (1992). Taxonomy of British Elms. PhD thesis. University of Cambridge, UK.
- Armstrong, J. V. & Sell, P. D. (1996). A revision of the British elms (Ulmus L., Ulmaceae): the historical background. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 120: 39-50.
- Chailland, M. (1769). Dictionnaire raisonne des eaux et forets. Paris.
- Deterville, P. (1821-3). Le nouveau cours complet d'agriculture theorique et pratique (16 vols). Reproduced by Librairie Nord Sud, Kervignac, France.
- Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. pp 1848-1929. Private publication. [2]
- Howes, C.A. (2002). The Wheatley Elm: Is it part of Yorkshire's arboricultural heritage? Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery, unpublished paper.
- McClintock, D. (1975). The Wild Flowers of Guernsey. Collins, London.
- Melville, R. (1978). On the discrimination of species in hybrid swarms with special reference to Ulmus and the nomenclature of U. minor (Mill.) and U. carpinifolia (Gled.). Taxon 27: 345-351.
- Richens, R. H. (1968). The correct designation of the European field elms. Feddes Repertorium 79: 1-2
- Stace, C. A. (1997). New Flora of the British Isles, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press.
- White, J. & More, D. (2002). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. Cassell's, London.
