| Ulmus pseudopropinqua | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Ulmaceae |
| Genus: | Ulmus |
| Species: | U. pseudopropinqua |
| Binomial name | |
| Ulmus pseudopropinqua Wang & Li |
|
Ulmus pseudopropinqua Wang & Li, occasionally known in the USA as the Harbin Spring Elm, is a small deciduous tree found only in Heilongjiang, the northeasternmost province in China.
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Regarded as a handsome tree, it grows to a height of 10 m. The wing-less twigs bear small ovate to subovate dark-green leaves, < 5.5 cm long by 2.5 cm broad. The wind-pollinated apetalous flowers are produced on second-year shoots in April; the variably-shaped samarae < 25 mm long by 20 mm wide ripen in June [1].
Resistant to Dutch elm disease[2], U. pseudopropinqua has also been found to be among the least suitable species for feeding and reproduction by elm leaf beetle Xanthogaleruca luteola [3] [3] [4] and feeding by the Japanese Beetle Popillia japonica [4] [5] in the USA.
The species is one of a range of rare Chinese elms currently under evaluation as landscape plants at the Morton Arboretum, Illinois. One example is known to grow in the UK, but is not known to have been introduced to continental Europe or Australasia. There are no known cultivars of this taxon, nor is it known to be in commerce beyond the USA.