Ulmus minor 'Viminalis Betulaefolia' explained

Ulmus minor 'Viminalis Betulaefolia'
Species:Ulmus minor
Cultivar:'Betulaefolia'

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Viminalis Betulaefolia' (:'birch-leaved') is an elm tree of uncertain origin.[1] An U. betulaefolia was listed by Loddiges of Hackney, London, in the catalogue of 1836,[2] an U. campestris var. betulaefolia by Loudon in Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838),[3] and an U. betulifolia Booth by the Lawson nursery of Edinburgh (from 1838).[4] [5] Henry described an U. campestris var. betulaefolia at Kew in 1913,[6] obtained from Fulham nurseryman Osborne in 1879, as "scarcely different from var. viminalis " (U. minor 'Viminalis').[7] Melville considered the tree so named at Kew a form of his U. × viminalis,[8] while Bean (1988), describing U. 'Betulaefolia', likewise placed it under U. 'Viminalis' as an apparently allied tree.[9] Loudon and Browne had noted that some forms of 'Viminalis' can be mistaken for a variety of birch.[10] [11] An U. campestris betulaefolia was distributed by Hesse's Nurseries, Weener, Germany, in the 1930s.[12]

Henry (1913) also described an U. nitens var. betulaefolia , a cultivar with long, narrow un-birchlike leaves, a herbarium specimen of which from Audley End, Suffolk, is preserved at Kew.[13] Henry did not include this cultivar, represented by a specimen in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, as a form of 'Viminalis', but both he and Green took it to be a synonym of Loudon's 'Betulaefolia'. Melville determined this tree a triple hybrid, U. carpinifolia gled. × U. plotii Druce × U. glabra Huds..[14]

Description

Loudon's U. campestris var. betulaefolia was distinguished by its leaves "somewhat resembling common birch".[15] [16] Wesmael's (1863) Ulmus campestris var. nuda subvar. betulaefolia Hort. Vilv. had sharp-pointed double teeth.[17] Bean's U. 'Betulaefolia' was an "elegant" tree with pendulous young branchlets, leaves narrowly obovate, 2–2.5 in. by 1.5, rough above, downy in the vein-axils beneath, with deeply toothed margins, the teeth being narrow, incurved, and often double.[18] Rehder (1938) described 'Betulaefolia' as "a tree of pyramidal habit with ascending branches and elliptic to elliptic-oblong leaves 4 to 8 cm long, narrowed towards the unequal base".[19]

Henry's . U. nitens var. betulaefolia was "a pyramidal tree with ascending branches, with leaves up to 4 in. by 1.5 in., long-acuminate at the apex and narrowing towards a cuneate but unequal base".[20]

Pests and diseases

Trees of the U. × viminalis group are very susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

No specimens of 'Betulaefolia' are known to survive. There was a specimen at Kew Gardens in the late 19th and early 20th century, obtained from Osborne (1879).[7] [6] An U. campestris var. betulaefolia, obtained from Hesse's nursery, Germany, in the 1920s, stood in Morton Arboretum, Illinois. A second tree there, cloned from this and grafted, was renamed Ulmus carpinifolia Gled. cv. 'Betulaefolia', and was still present in the 1990s. It was described as an "irregular" tree, 55 ft tall and 30 ft wide, with fissured grey-brown bark and smooth brown twigs.[21] Arnold Arboretum had a specimen of Ulmus foliacea Gilibert [: ''U. minor''] 'Betulaefolia' in the mid-20th century.[22]

Synonymy

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bean, William Jackson. Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain. 8. 1988. 659. Murray. London.
  2. Loddiges. Conrad. 1836. Catalogue of plants, in the collection of Conrad Loddiges & Sons, nurserymen, at Hackney, near London.. 13. 35.
  3. https://archive.org/stream/arboretumetfruti03loudrich#page/1376/mode/1up Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, 3: 1376, 1838
  4. https://archive.org/details/hortuslignosuslo00loudrich/page/144 Loudon, J. C., Hortus lignosus londinensis (London, 1838), p.145-6
  5. https://archive.org/stream/pinetumbeingsyno00gorduoft#page/n650/mode/1up The Lawson Company's List, no. IV, Forest Trees & Shrubs, Nov. 1874; Lawson Seed & Nursery Co., Edinburgh & London, p.25
  6. https://archive.org/details/handlistofconife00royarich/page/614 Hand-list of trees and shrubs grown in the Arboretum, Kew Gardens (London, 1902), p.615
  7. Book: Elwes. Henry John. Henry John Elwes. Henry. Augustine. Augustine Henry. 1913. The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. 1906.
  8. Green . Peter Shaw . Peter Shaw Green . 1964 . Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus. Arnoldia . 24. 41–80 . 6–8 . . 16 February 2017.
  9. Book: Bean, William Jackson. Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain. 8. 1988. 659. Murray. London.
  10. [John Claudius Loudon|Loudon]
  11. Browne, D. J. (1846). The Trees of America. Harper & Brothers, New York.
  12. Book: Hesse. Hermann Albert. Preis- und Sortenliste. 1932. 96–97. 18 January 2018.
  13. U. nitens var. betulaefolia Henry, apps.kew.org Web site: Herbarium catalogue. Ulmus nitens v. betulaefolia specimen K000852668. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 17 October 2016.
  14. Book: Elwes. Henry John. Henry John Elwes. Henry. Augustine. Augustine Henry. 1913. The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. 1896.
  15. Loudon (1838), p.1376
  16. Sheet described as U. nitens var. betulaefolia (Cottered, Hertfordshire, 1938, Melville's specimen); Sheet described as U. campestris var. betulaefolia (Cambridge, 1930)
  17. Web site: Bulletin de la Fédération des sociétés d'horticulture de Belgique . Wesmael . Alfred . Alfred Wesmael . 1862 . 389 . 2027/hvd.32044103102810?urlappend=%3Bseq=399 . 6 July 2017.
  18. Book: Bean, William Jackson. Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain. 8. 1988. 659. Murray. London.
  19. https://archive.org/details/mobot31753003542013/page/268 Rehder, Alfred, 'New Species, varieties ... from the collection of the Arnold Arboretum', Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, vol.19, 1938, p.269
  20. Book: Elwes. Henry John. Henry John Elwes. Henry. Augustine. Augustine Henry. 1913. The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. 7. 1896.
  21. http://vplants.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=4383492&clid=0 "Herbarium specimen 15191"
  22. Sheet described as Ulmus foliacea Gilib. [: ''U. minor''] 'Betulaefolia' (Arnold Arboretum, 1930)
  23. https://archive.org/details/hortuslignosuslo00loudrich/page/170 Loudon, J. C., Hortus lignosus londinensis: or, A catalogue of all the ligneous plants, indigenous and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, cultivated in the gardens and grounds ... in the principal nurseries of London and Edinburgh, and at Bollwyller in France, and in Hamburg (London, 1838), p.170

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