| Ulmus 'Morton Red Tip' | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genus | Ulmus |
| Hybrid parentage | Ulmus 'Morton' =Accolade open pollination |
| Cultivar | 'Morton Red Tip' =Danada Charm |
| Origin | US |
Ulmus 'Morton Red Tip' (selling nameDanada Charm) is ahybridcultivar raised by theMorton Arboretum from an open pollination ofUlmus 'Morton'. The tree has occasionally been reported as a hybrid ofAccolade with theSiberian ElmUlmus pumila,[1] an error probably owing to the commercial propagation of the tree by grafting ontoU. pumilarootstocks.Tested in the USNational Elm Trial coordinated byColorado State University,[1]Danada Charm averaged a survival rate of 77.5% after 10 years.[2]
Danada Charm has a graceful, vase-shaped habit resembling the American ElmUlmus americana with foliage tinged red on emergence.
Although resistant toDutch elm disease in the US,Danada Charm is very susceptible to the elm leaf beetleXanthogaleruca luteola,[3][4]Japanese Beetle,[5] andGypsy moth; it is also moderately preferred bycankerworms.[6][7]
Danada Charm is very cold hardy; in artificial freezing tests at the arboretum[8] theLT50 (temp. at which 50% of tissues die) was found to be −31 °C. However, the tree is notorious for its stem breakage owing to narrow crotch angles and included bark; in trials at theUniversity of Minnesota it had the unhappy distinction of being the worst of 17 cultivars for breakage.[9] The tree is currently being evaluated in theNational Elm Trial coordinated byColorado State University.
Danada Charm is being promoted by the Chicagoland Grows corporation but is not widely available in the United States. Very rare in Europe, it is not known (2016) to have been introduced toAustralasia.
The name Danada inDanada Charm is a conflation of the given names ofDaniel F. andAda L. Rice, whose eponymous Foundation helped sponsor the elm breeding program at the Morton Arboretum.