Ulmus hybrid | |
---|---|
'Lobel' elms, East Street, Brighton, UK. |
|
Details | |
Hybrid parentage | ('Exoniensis' × U. wallichiana) × ('Bea Schwarz' selfed) |
Cultivar | 'Lobel' |
Origin | Wageningen, The Netherlands |
A Dutch hybrid cultivar raised at Wageningen, Ulmus 'Lobel' was derived from a crossing of clone 202 (U. glabra 'Exoniensis' × U. wallichiana) with 336 ('Bea Schwarz', selfed), cloned in 1962 and released for sale in 1973.
Contents |
'Lobel' is a fastigiate, small-crowned, tree not unlike the pyramidal Hornbeam Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'.[1][2] The typically acuminate leaves are < 11 cm long × < 7 cm broad, and notably late to flush, rarely before mid-May.[3][4]
'Lobel' has been rated 4 out of 5 ("good") for its resistance to Dutch elm disease.[5]
Following the development and release of cultivars such as 'Columella' more resistant to Dutch elm disease, planting is no longer recommended wherever the disease is prevalent.[6] Sales in the Netherlands declined from over 12,000 in 1989 to 1,100 in 2004[7] [3].
However, 'Lobel' is particularly resistant to sea winds, and was accordingly planted in large numbers by Portsmouth City Council in the late 1980s, notably to replace the Huntingdon Elms lost in the Great Storm of 1987 along the Ladies' Mile on Southsea Common. There are also large plantings at Ealing and Primrose Hill, London, Brighton & Hove, and Havant. 'Lobel' was included in trials [4] in Canberra, Australia started in 1988 but has not thrived in that environment.
'Lobel' was introduced to North America in 1991 when Heybroek donated material to the North Central Regional PI Station, Iowa State University, but the tree is not known to have been commercially released there [8].
The tree is named for Matthias de L'obel, the Flemish botanist also commemorated by the genus Lobelia.