Ulmus × hollandica 'Cinerea'

Ulmus × hollandica 'Cinerea'
Hybrid parentage	U. glabra × U. minor
Cultivar	'Cinerea'
Origin	Europe

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Cinerea' was first listed by George Lindley (father of John Lindley) in 1815, as Ulmus cinerea, the ash-coloured elm,^[1] and later by the André Leroy Nurseries, Angers, France, in 1856. It was distributed as Ulmus cinerea by the Baudriller nursery, Angers,^[2] and as Ulmus montana cinerea by Louis van Houtte of Ghent.^[3] A specimen in cultivation at Kew in 1964 was found to be U. × hollandica, but the tree at Wakehurst Place remains listed as U. glabra 'Cinerea'.^[4]

Description

The tree was described as having branches "stunted and tortuous, the upper ascending, the lower more or less pendulous", with "crowded" leaves similar to those of Exeter Elm.^[5][6]

Pests and diseases

The tree is susceptible to Dutch elm disease.

Cultivation

Only one living specimen is known, at Wakehurst Place, England, where it survives by being treated as a hedging plant, too low to attract the attentions of the Scolytus beetles that act as vectors of Dutch elm disease. Introduced to North America, 'Cinerea' was marketed, as Ulmus cinerea, 'Ash-coloured elm', by the Mount Hope Nursery (also known as Ellwanger and Barry) of Rochester, New York from the 1860s.^[7][8] It is not known to have been introduced to Australasia.

Accessions

Europe

• Royal Botanic Gardens Wakehurst Place, UK. Acc. no. 1973–21051, listed as U. glabra 'Cinerea'.

References

1. Lindley, George (1815). A catalogue of forest trees, fruit trees, evergreen and flowering shrubs, kitchen garden and flower seeds (PDF). Catton near Norwich. p. 37.
2. Baudriller Établissement d'Horticulture, Catalogue général descriptif et raisonné des arbres fruitiers, forestiers & d'ornement cultivés dans l'établissement. Année. 1880, p.117
3. Cultures de Louis van Houtte: Plantes Vivaces de Pleine Terre, Catalogue de Louis van Houtte, 1881-2, p.303
4. Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
5. Elwes, Henry John; Henry, Augustine (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. 7. p. 1867.
6. "herbariaunited.org, specimen 295176" Sheet labelled Ulmus montana var. cinerea, Kew specimen, 1909; "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1846783". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet labelled Ulmus glabra Huds. var. cinerea (Kew specimen)
7. Ellwanger & Barry, Descriptive Catalogue of Hardy Ornamental Trees ... at the Mount Hope Nurseries (Rochester, N.Y., 1868), p.9
8. Ellwanger & Barry, Descriptive Catalogue of Hardy Ornamental Trees ... at the Mount Hope Nurseries (Rochester, N.Y., 1875)