Ulmus 'Columella'
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| Ulmus hybrid |
|---|
 'Columella', aged 10 years, Great Fontley, UK |
| Hybrid parentage |
| 'Plantyn', selfed |
| Cultivar |
| 'Columella' |
| Origin |
| Wageningen, The Netherlands |
A Dutch cultivar raised by the Dorschkamp Research Institute in Wageningen, 'Columella' was derived from a selfed seedling of the hybrid 'Plantyn' sown in 1967. It was released for sale in 1989 after proving to be the first Dutch clone immune to Dutch elm disease following inoculation with unnaturally high doses of the causative fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi [1].
'Columella' makes a tall, fastigiate tree with very upright branches, but broadens in later years[2]. The rough, rounded, and curiously twisted leaves, < 7 cm long, are the result of a recessive gene inherited from its Exeter Elm ancestor, and are arranged in asymmetric clusters on short branchlets. Wind resistant, the tree has been planted throughout the Netherlands, where its columnar shape has made it popular as a street tree. It is particularly popular in Amsterdam, where it has been widely planted as a replacement for the similarly-fastigiate Jersey Elm, U. minor subsp. sarniensis [3], itself a replacement for the Belgian Elm, Ulmus × hollandica 'Belgica', which had succumbed so readily to the earlier strain of Dutch elm diease after WW1.
In trials conducted by Butterfly Conservation in southern Hampshire, England, the trees became distressed during summer drought, shedding much of their foliage; a trait possibly inherited from one of the tree's ancestors, the Himalayan Elm Ulmus wallichiana. The same trees first flowered aged 8 years, in March; the resultant samarae, broadly obovate, 13-17 mm long by 10-12 mm wide, were found to have a moderate viability [2].
'Columella' featured in New Zealand government trials during the 1990s at the Hortresearch station, Palmerston North, but is not known to have been introduced to North America.
Contents |
[edit] Hybrid cultivars
- Clone FL 666 (Heybroek's 405* × 'Columella'), Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, Florence. Not commercially released (2007). *((U. glabra × U. minor) × U. pumila)
[edit] Arboreta etc. accessions
[edit] Europe
- Arboretum de La Petite Loiterie [4], Monthodon, France. No details available
- Great Fontley Farm, Fareham, UK, Butterfly Conservation Elm Trials plantation, Home Field D2, I6, (planted 2003).
[edit] Nurseries
[edit] Europe
- Boomwekerijen 'De Batterijen' [5], Ochten, Netherlands
- Crowders Nurseries [6], Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England
- PlantenTuin Esveld [7], Boskoop, Netherlands
- Standard Trees[8], Golden Cross, East Sussex, England
- Tuinenlandschap [9], Doetinchem, The Netherlands
- UmbraFlor [10], Spello, Italy
- Westerveld Boomkwekerij B.V.[11], Opheusden, Netherlands
[edit] Etymology
The hybrid is named for the Roman agronomist Columella, who introduced the Atinian elm (now more commonly known as the English Elm) to Spain from Italy circa AD 50.
[edit] References
- ^ Heybroek, H. (1993). The Dutch Elm Breeding Program. In Sticklen & Sherald (Eds.) (1993). Dutch Elm Disease Research, Chapter 3. Springer Verlag, New York, USA.
- ^ Brookes, A. H. (2006). An evaluation of disease-resistant hybrid and exotic elms as larval host plants for the White-letter Hairstreak Satyrium w-album, Part 1 [1]. Butterfly Conservation. Lulworth, UK.
