Superba (Canterbury Elm)
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| Canterbury Elm |
|---|
| Hybrid parentage |
| U. glabra × U. minor |
| Cultivar |
| Superba |
| Origin |
| Europe |
U. × hollandica Superba is one of a number of hybrids arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with a variety of Field Elm U. minor. Identified by Morren as U. montana (: glabra) var. superba in Jour. Agric. Prat. Belg.: 411 1848 and much later by Krussman in Handb. Laubgeh. 2: 537, 1962 as a cultivar. Described as a rapidly-growing, narrow, pyramidal tree with smooth bark and steeply ascending branches, bearing large leaves very similar to the Wych Elm but with long stalks. The flowers too resemble those of the Wych Elm.
Superba was reputed by Spath to have been much valued as a street tree, notably in Magdeburg, Germany. Superba was cultivated in the UK by Masters at Canterbury in the early 19th century, where it was known as Master's Canterbury Seedling or simply the Canterbury Elm, and later, confusingly, as U. montana (: glabra) Major.
Superba was reintroduced to the UK at Kew Gardens in 1900, obtained from Spath, Germany, and remains represented by a specimen at Wakehurst Place donated in 1949. A tree of the name was photographed at the Ellwanger and Barry nursery at Mount Hope, Rochester, New York, circa 1900, but this tree appears most unlike the Canterbury Elm, indeed the photograph is also marked 'Belgian Elm' which it resembles more closely.
NB. Superba was also the name given by Levallee in Arb. Segrez. 237, 1877 to the Wych Elm cultivar later known as Cornuta.
Contents |
[edit] Arboreta etc. accessions
[edit] North America
None known.
[edit] Europe
- Royal Botanic Garden Wakehurst Place acc. no. 1949-42304
[edit] Nurseries
None known.
[edit] Synonymy
- U montana (:glabra) var. major Masters: Loudun, Arb. Frut. Brit. 3: 1398, 1838.
[edit] References
- Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. pp 1848-1929. Private publication, Edinburgh. [1]
- Green, P. S. (1964). Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus. Arnoldia, Vol. 24. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. [2]
[edit] External links
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