Chestnut-leafed Elm
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Ulmus castaneifolia | ||||||||||||||
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Chestnut-leafed Elm aged 15 years, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK
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Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
Ulmus castaneifolia Hemsley |
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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.
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
[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.