Ulmus chenmoui

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Ulmus chenmoui
Chenmou Elm at Morton Arboretum
Chenmou Elm at Morton Arboretum
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Ulmaceae
Genus: Ulmus
Species: U. chenmoui
Binomial name
Ulmus chenmoui
W.C.Cheng

Ulmus chenmoui W. C. Cheng, or Chenmou Elm, is a small deciduous tree from the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu in eastern China, where it is found at elevations below 200 m on the Langya Shan and Baohua Shan mountains resp. [1] [2]. Growing to a maximum height of 20 m, its slender trunk rarely exceeds 0.5 m in diameter at breast height [d.b.h.]; the bark exfoliates in irregular flakes. Its wing-less twigs bear comparatively large obovate to oblong leaves up to 18 cm in length [2]. The wind-pollinated petal-less flowers are produced on second-year shoots in March; the samarae are obovate < 25 mm long by 17 mm wide and ripen in April.

The tree is rare in cultivation in the West, but was evaluated in Italy and found to have a low susceptibility to Dutch elm disease and elm leaf beetle [3]. It also featured in elm trials conducted by the Institut Nationale de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) on gravelly soils in the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, but most specimens were killed by drought.

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

Contents

[edit] Hybrid cultivars

U. chenmoui has been hybridized with the Dutch clone 405 (U. glabra x U. minor) by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), Florence, to create clone FL 509, reputedly a fast-growing and attractive tree. IPP has also hybridized U. chenmoui with the early Dutch hybrid cultivar Groeneveld, identifying the new cultivar as FL 522. Neither of these new cultivars will be commercially released until full field trials in Italy and the UK have confirmed their suitability.

[edit] Arboreta etc accessions

[edit] North America

[edit] Europe

[edit] Nurseries

North America

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fu, L. & Jin J. (eds). (1992). China Red Data Book. Rare and endangered plants. Vol. 1. Science Press, Beijing.
  2. ^ 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. [1]
  3. ^ Mittempergher, L. & Santini, A. (2004) The history of elm breeding. Investigacion agraria: Sistemas y recursos forestales 13(1): 161-177 (2004)