The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Dauvessei', one of a number of cultivars arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with a variety of Field Elm U. minor, is a very rare cultivar said to have originated at the D. Dauvesse nursery in Orléans, France before 1877.[1][2]
| Ulmus × hollandica 'Dauvessei' | |
|---|---|
| Hybrid parentage | U. glabra × U. minor |
| Cultivar | 'Dauvessei' |
| Origin | France[1] |
Description
editAccording to Henry's description (1913) based on a tree at Kew, the branches ascend to form a broad, pyramidal crown; the leaves bear a resemblance to Wych Elm, but are generally smaller, rarely exceeding 10 cm long by 5 cm wide, and thinner in texture, with petioles nearly 1 cm long.[3][4][5] Krüssmann added that the leaf-base was more oblique.[2]
The US National Arboretum, however, described the 'Dauvessei' that once grew in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., as similar in appearance to English Elm (in its lower latitude growth-form), forking at about 2 metres, reaching about 20 m tall by 18 m broad.[6] Herbarium specimens from the Washington trees show less elongated, rounder leaves than those at Kew, with fewer vein-pairs.[7]
Pests and diseases
editThe tree is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.
Cultivation
editThere are no confirmed surviving specimens of 'Dauvessei'. A tree obtained from Lee of Hammersmith in 1879 grew at Kew Gardens, where it attained a height of 40 feet (12 m).[3] In the United States specimens stood along The Mall in Washington D.C. among American Elms on either side of the Reflecting Pool (2009),[8][9] but it is not known whether any survive. A 2018 Cornell University study of the National Mall elms found five possible Ulmus × hollandica there (cultivar unidentified).[10] A tree acquired from the Nobelius nursery in 1929 and grown at the University of Adelaide Waite Arboretum, Australia, died in 1997; Melville confirmed the 'Dauvessei' identification, reconfirmed by the arboretum in 1992.[11]
Putative specimen
editIn the UK a broad pyramidal tree matching 'Dauvessei' descriptions[3][2] and 'Dauvessei' herbarium material from a specimen in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C., producing hybrid-type samarae, stands in the east corner of Claremont Park, Leith, by Seafield Place. Its location and tidy shape suggest a named cultivar.[12][13][14]
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Seafield Place elm -
Bole of same -
Leaves of same, August -
Foliage, October -
Samarae of same -
Same, spring
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Hybrid cultivars
edit'Dauvessei' was crossed with Ulmus × hollandica, U. glabra, and U. minor in the Dutch elm breeding programme before World War II, but none of the progeny were of particular note and were discarded.[15]
Synonymy
edit- Ulmus campestris var. Dauvessi Hort.: Lavallée [1], Arboretum Segrezianum 235, 1877.
- Ulmus montana var. Dauvessei: Nicholson, Kew Hand-List Trees and Shrubs, 2: 139, 1896.
References
edit- ^ a b Jacobson, Arthur Lee (1996). North American Landscape Trees. p. 655. ISBN 9780898158137.
- ^ a b c Krüssman, Gerd (1984). Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees & Shrubs. Vol. 3. p. 410.
- ^ a b c Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. p. 1874. Republished 2004 Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9781108069380
- ^ Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ "Herbarium specimen - L.4214028". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Labelled Ulmus dauvessei; Kew Gardens specimen (1936); "Herbarium specimen - L.1587061". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Labelled Ulmus × hollandica nm. dauvessei (Henry; 'type tree'); Kew Gardens specimen (1955)
- ^ Label of herbarium specimen WAG.1847155, Botany Catalogues, Naturalis Biodiversity Center. West Potomac Park specimen, Washington, D.C.
- ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1847155". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. West Potomac Park specimen 1, Washington, D.C. (1966); "Herbarium specimen HUDC00010315" Howard University Herbarium; West Potomac Park, specimen 2, Washington, D.C. (1966); "Herbarium specimen HUDC00010316 Howard University Herbarium; West Potomac Park, specimen 3, Washington, D.C. (1966); "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1847157". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. West Potomac Park samara specimen, Washington, D.C. (1966)
- ^ Sherald, James L., 'Elms of the Monumental Core' (Washington D.C.), National Park Service (2009), p.7
- ^ "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1847155". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. West Potomac Park specimen 1, Washington, D.C. (1966)
- ^ Bassuk, Denig, Harada, Neal: 'The state of the elms on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: tree & soil conditions' (2018); hort.cornell.edu
- ^ Information from Waite Arboretum, 2018, on accession no. 430, Ulmus × hollandica 'Dauvessei'
- ^ Google Maps: Seafield Pl - Google Maps (May 2015), accessdate: August 19, 2016
- ^ Google Maps: Seafield Pl - Google Maps (July 2008), accessdate: August 19, 2016
- ^ Ulmus × hollandica 'Dauvessei'; Conservation Foundation, conservationfoundation.co.uk
- ^ Went, J. A. (1954). The Dutch elm disease - Summary of 15 years' hybridisation and selection work (1937–1952). European Journal of Plant Pathology, Vol 60, 2, March 1954.