Ulmus scabraMill., C. K. Schneid., Ley, Ascherson & Graebner
Ulmus scoticaGand.
Ulmus suberosaMichx.
Ulmus sukaczeviiAndronov
Ulmus glabra, thewych elm orScots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to theUral Mountains, and from theArctic Circle south to the mountains of thePeloponnese andSicily, where the species reaches its southern limit in Europe;[2] it is also found in Iran. A largedeciduous tree, it is essentially amontane species, growing at altitudes up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), preferring sites with moist soils and high humidity.[3] The tree can form pure forests inScandinavia and occurs as far north as latitude67°N atBeiarn Municipality in Norway. It has been successfully introduced as far north asTromsø andAlta in northern Norway (70°N).[4] It has also been successfully introduced toNarsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland (61°N).
The tree was by far the most common elm in the north and west of theBritish Isles and is now acknowledged as the only indisputably British native elm species. Owing to its former abundance in Scotland, the tree was occasionally (primarily historically) known as Scots elm;Loch Lomond is said to be derived from theGaelicLac Leaman, interpreted by some as 'Lake of the Elms', 'leaman' being the genitive plural form of leam or lem, 'elm'.[5]
Closely related species, such as Bergmann's elm,U. bergmanniana, and the Manchurian elm,U. laciniata, native to northeastAsia, were once sometimes included inU. glabra;[6] another close relative is the Himalayan or Kashmir elm,U. wallichiana. Conversely,U. elliptica from theCaucasus, considered a species by many authorities,[7][8][9][10] is sometimes listed as a regional form ofU. glabra.[11]
The word "wych" (also spelled "witch") comes from the Old Englishwice, meaning pliant or supple, which also gives definition towicker andweak.Jacob George Strutt's 1822 book,Sylva Britannica, attests that the wych elm was sometimes referred to as "wych hazel", a name now applied to the unrelated genusHamamelis, commonly called "wych hazels".[12]
Some botanists, notably Lindquist (1931), have proposed twosubspecies:[13]
U. glabra subsp.glabra in the south of the species' range: broad leaves with short tapering base and acute lobes;[14] trees often with a short, forked trunk and a low, broad crown;
U. glabra subsp.montana(Stokes) Lindqvist in the north of the species' range (northern Britain, Scandinavia): leaves narrower, with a long tapering base and without acute lobes;[14] trees commonly with a long single trunk and a tall, narrow crown.[15]
Much overlap is seen between populations with these characters, and the distinction may owe to environmental influence, rather than genetic variation; the subspecies are not accepted by eitherFlora Europaea orPlants of the World Online.[16][17]
The type sometimes reaches heights of 40 m (130 ft), typically with a broad crown where open-grown, supported by a shortbole up to 2 m (6.6 ft)diameter at breast height (DBH). Normally, root suckers are not seen; natural reproduction is by seed alone. The tree is notable for its very tough, supple young shoots, which are always without the corky ridges or 'wings' characteristic of many elms. The alternate leaves are deciduous, 6–17 cm long by 3–12 cm broad, usuallyobovate with an asymmetric base, the lobe often completely covering the short (<5 mm)petiole;[18] the upper surface is rough. Leaves on juvenile or shade-grown shoots sometimes have three or more lobes near the apex.[19] Theperfecthermaphroditeflowers appear before the leaves in early spring, produced in clusters of 10–20; they are 4 mm across on 10 mm long stems, and being wind-pollinated, areapetalous. The fruit is a wingedsamara 20 mm long and 15 mm broad, with a single, round, 6 mm seed in the centre, maturing in late spring.[20][21] The roots can be of extraordinary length: one at Auchencraig, Larg, Ayershire, Scotland has roots which have been traced for a length of 110 metres from the trunk.[22]
While the species is highly susceptible toDutch elm disease,[23][24] it is less favoured as a host by the elm bark beetles, which act as vectors. Research in Spain has indicated the presence of atriterpene,alnulin, rendering the tree bark less attractive to the beetle than thefield elm, though at 87 μg/g dried bark, its concentration is not as effective as inUlmus laevis (200 μg/g).[25] Moreover, once the tree is dying, its bark is quickly colonized by thefungusPhoma, which radically reduces the amount of bark available for the beetle to breed on.[26] In European trials, clones of apparently resistant trees were inoculated with the pathogen, causing 85 – 100% wilting, resulting in 68% mortality by the following year. DNA analysis byCemagref (nowIrstea) in France has determined the genetic diversity within the species is very limited, making the chances of a resistant tree evolving rather remote.[27]
A 300-year-old example growing inGrenzhammer,Ilmenau has allegedly been scientifically proven to be resistant to Dutch elm disease.[28] In 1998, over 700 healthy, mature trees were discovered on the upper slopes of Mount Šimonka in theSlanské Hills inSlovakia,[29] where they are believed to have survived courtesy of their isolation from disease-carrying beetles rather than through any innate resistance; 50 clones of these trees, propagated by the Faculty of Forestry at theTechnical University in Zvolen, were presented to the Prince of Wales (now KingCharles III) and planted at hisHighgrove Estate, in theDuchy of Cornwall estate, and atClapham,Yorkshire, in 2001.[30] They remain disease-free (2024).[31][32][33]
The Swedish Forest Tree Breeding Association atKällstorp producedtriploid andtetraploid forms of the tree, but these proved no more resistant to Dutch elm disease than the normaldiploid form.[34]
In trials conducted in Italy, the tree was found to have a slight to moderate susceptibility toelm yellows, and a high susceptibility to the elm leaf beetleXanthogaleruca luteola.[35]
200-year-old wych,Jedburgh Abbey, a survivor (2024) in area of high DED infectivity.[36]
The wych elm is moderately shade-tolerant, but requires deep, rich soils as typically found along river valleys.[37] The species is intolerant of acid soils and flooding,[38] as it is of prolonged drought.[39] Although rarely used as a street tree owing to its shape, it can be surprisingly tolerant of urban air pollution, constricted growing conditions, and severe pollarding.
As wych elm does not sucker from the roots, and any seedlings are often consumed by uncontrolled deer populations, regeneration is very restricted, limited to sprouts from the stumps of young trees. The resultant decline has been extreme, and the wych elm is now uncommon over much of its former range. It is best propagated from seed or by layering stooled stock plants, although softwood cuttings taken in early June will root fairly reliably under mist.[40]
Wych elm was widely planted in Edinburgh in the 19th century as a park and avenue tree, and despite losses, it remains abundant there, regenerating through seedlings.[41][5] It was introduced to New England in the 18th century,[42] to Canada (asU. montana at theDominion Arboretum,Ottawa)[43][44] and Australia in the 19th century.[45]
Wych elm wood is prized by craftsmen for its colouring, its striking grain, its 'partridge-breast' or 'catspaw' markings, and when worked, its occasional iridescent greenish sheen or 'bloom'. The bosses on old trees produce the characteristic fissures and markings of 'burr elm' wood.[46] Bosses fringed with shoots are burrs, whereas unfringed bosses are burls.[citation needed]
Untreated wood grain of wych elm
Waxed wood grain of burr wych elm
Burr on wych bole, Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh
Burl on wych bole, Regent Road, Edinburgh
Burls on trunk and branches of wych elm, Dalry Cemetery, Edinburgh
Crown galls (burls on outer branches) on wych elm, North Ayrshire
Medical properties of Ulmus campestris, Dijon, 1783
In 18th century France, the inner bark ofUlmus glabra,orme pyramidale, had a brief reputation as apanacea;[47][48]"it was taken as a powder, as an extract, as an elixir, even in baths. It was good for the nerves, the chest, the stomach — what can I say? — it was a true panacea."[49] It was this so-called "pyramidal elm bark" about whichMichel-Philippe Bouvart famously quipped "Take it, Madame... and hurry up while it [still] cures."[49] It still appeared in a pharmacopeia of 1893.[48]
Possibly the oldest wych elm in Europe grew atBeauly Priory inInverness-shire, Scotland; the tree succumbed to Dutch elm disease in 2022 and collapsed the following year. The priory was founded circa 1230, the tree already in existence.[50]
The UK Champion listed inthe Tree Register of the British Isles was atBrahan in theScottish Highlands[51] (died 2021[52]); it had a girth of 703 cm (2.23 m DBH) and a height of 24 m.[53] Possibly the oldest specimen in England was found in 2018 in a field north ofHopton Castle in Shropshire. Coppiced long ago, its bole girth measured 6.3 m in 2018. The oldest specimen inEdinburgh is believed to be the tree (girth 5.2 m) in the former grounds ofDuddingston House, now Duddingston Golf Course.[54] Other notable specimens in Edinburgh are to be found in Learmonth Gardens andThe Meadows.[55]
In Europe, a large tree planted in 1620 grows at Bergemolo, 5 km south ofDemonte inPiedmont, Italy (bole-girth 6.2 m, 2.0 m DBH, height 26 m., 2008).[56][57] Other ancient specimens grow at Styria, in Austria, and at Grenzhammer, Germany (see Gallery).
E. M. Forster cites a particular wych elm, one that grew at his childhood home of Rooks Nest,Stevenage,Hertfordshire, 16 times in his novelHowards End. This tree overhangs the house of the title and is said to have a "...girth that a dozen men could not have spanned..." Forster describes the tree as "...a comrade, bending over the house, strength and adventure in its roots." The wych elm of the novel had pigs' teeth embedded in the trunk by country people long ago and it was said that chewing some of the bark could cure toothache. In keeping with the novel's epigraph, "Only connect...", the wych elm may be seen by some as a symbol of the connection of humans to the earth. Margaret Schlegel, the novel's protagonist, fears that any "....westerly gale might blow the wych elm down and bring the end of all things..." The tree is changed to a chestnut in the 1991 film adaptation ofHowards End.
About 40 cultivars have been raised, although at least 30 are now probably lost to cultivation as a consequence of Dutch elm disease and/or other factors:
However, hybrids ofU. glabra andU. pumila, the Siberian elm, have not been observed in the field and only achieved in the laboratory, though the ranges of the two species, the latter introduced by man, overlap in parts of Southern Europe, notably Spain.[25] A crossing in Russia ofU. glabra andU. pumila produced the hybrid namedUlmus × arbuscula; a similar crossing was cloned ('FL025') by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP), Florence, as part of the Italian elm breeding programme circa 2000.
Hybrids withU. glabra in their ancestry have featured strongly in recent artificial hybridisation experiments in Europe, notably atWageningen in theNetherlands, and a number of hybrid cultivars have been commercially released since 1960.[61] The earlier trees were raised in response to the initial Dutch elm disease pandemic that afflicted Europe after theFirst World War, and were to prove vulnerable to the much more virulent strain of the disease that arrived in the late 1960s. However, further research eventually produced several trees effectively immune to disease, which were released after 1989.[62]
Who put Bella in the Wych Elm? – graffiti that appeared in 1944 following the discovery of the remains of a woman inside a wych elm in Worcestershire, England
^Heybroek, H. M., Goudzwaard, L, Kaljee, H. (2009).Iep of olm, karakterboom van de Lage Landen (:Elm, a tree with character of the Low Countries). KNNV, Uitgeverij.ISBN9789050112819
^Geraint Richards, 'All the King's Elms: re-elming the Duchy of Cornwall estate', in Mark Seddon and David Shreeve, eds.,Great British Elms (Kew Gardens, 2024), p.181
^Andrej Barát, 'Les princa Charlesa zdobia slovenské bresty. Už 20 rokov' [: Prince Charles' Estate has been adorned with Slovak elms for 20 years], 13 February 2020, zurnal.pravda.sk
^Mittempergher, L; Santini, A (2004)."The history of elm breeding"(PDF).Investigacion Agraria: Sistemas y Recursos Forestales.13 (1):161–177. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 11 February 2017.
^Heybroek, H.M. (1993)."The Dutch Elm Breeding Program". In Sticklen, Mariam B.; Sherald, James L. (eds.).Dutch Elm Disease Research. New York, USA: Springer-Verlag. pp. 16–25.ISBN978-1-4615-6874-2. Retrieved26 October 2017.
Coleman, Max, ed.:Wych Elm (Edinburgh, 2009;ISBN978-1-906129-21-7). A study of the species, with particular reference to the wych elm in Scotland and its use by craftsmen.
Clarkson, R. & Coleman, M. (2022) 'Propagating healthy mature elms that have survived in areas severely impacted by Dutch elm disease: a scoping study for a wych elm project in Scotland.' Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
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![200-year-old wych, Jedburgh Abbey, a survivor (2024) in area of high DED infectivity.[36]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJedburgh_Giant..._a_rare_wych_elm_that_survived_black_elm_disease.jpg)
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![300-year-old U. glabra (after lopping), Grenzhammer, Ilmenau, Germany (2010)[58]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aIlmenau_Grenzhammer_Ulme.JPG)
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![A c.200-year-old forked wych (bole girth 4 m), Čiernom Moste Park, Škultétyho, Prešov, Slovakia (2019)[59]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPark_%25C5%25A0kult%25C3%25A9tyho_Pre%25C5%25A1ov_19_Slovakia3.jpg)
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![The Last Ent of Affric, Glen Affric (2022)[60]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWych_elm%2c_Gleann_na_C%25C3%25ACche_(geograph_7210938).jpg)
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