Chestnut-leafed Elm

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Ulmus castaneifolia

Chestnut-leafed Elm aged 15 years, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Ulmaceae
Genus:	Ulmus
Species:	U. castaneifolia

Binomial name

Ulmus castaneifolia
Hemsley

Synonyms

Ulmus ferruginea W. C. Cheng

Ulmus multinervis W. C. Cheng

The Chestnut-leafed Elm Ulmus castaneifolia Hemsley is a small deciduous tree found across much of China in broadleaved forests at elevations of between 500 m and 1600 m. The tree can reach a height of 20 m with a trunk of about 0.5 m d.b.h. The bark is thick with a pronounced corky layer, and is longitudinally fissured.

Chestnut-leafed Elm

The leaves are generally narrow, ranging from obovate to elliptic in shape, and are up to 15 cm long, densely hirsute when young. The wind-pollinated petal-less flowers are produced on second-year shoots in February; the samarae are mostly obovate < 30 mm x 16 mm. The branchlets are devoid of corky wings ^[1] ^[2] The species is very rare in cultivation, but is currently (2006) being assessed for its horticultural potential at the Morton Arboretum, Illinois. In artificial freezing tests at the arboretum ^[3] the LT50 (temp. at which 50% of tissues die) was found to be - 26 °C.

There are no known cultivars of this taxon, nor is it known to be available in any nurseries beyond the USA.

[edit] Arboreta etc accessions

North America

Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois. Planted in West Collections Area.
Denver Botanic Gardens, acc. no. not available
Morton Arboretum, acc. no. 46-95. obtained from Yunnan Province, China.
University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, Vancouver, acc. no. 027099-0437-1989, (as U. multinervis).

Europe

Calderstones Park, Merseyside, UK. UK Champion, 13 m high, 45 cm d.b.h..
Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia acc. no. 18149 (as U. multinervis W. C. Cheng), from Beijing.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, acc. no. 1973-11726
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, acc. no. 1994.0327, area PC 700, origin not disclosed.
Strona Arboretum [2], University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, (as Ulmus multinervis).

[edit] Nurseries

North America

Sunshine Nursery [3], Clinton, Oklahoma

[edit] References

^ Fu, L., Xin, Y. & Whittemore, A. (2002). Ulmaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) Flora of China, Vol. 5 (Ulmaceae through Basellaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA. ISBN-10: 1930723407 [1]
^ White, J. & More, D. (2003). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. Cassell's, London. ISBN 0-304-361192-5
^ Shirazi, A. M. & Ware, G. H. (2004). Evaluation of New Elms from China for Cold Hardiness in Northern Latitudes. International Symposium on Asian Plant Diversity & Systematics 2004, Sakura, Japan.