Ulmus minorsubsp.canescens is a small deciduous tree occasionally known by the common names grey elm, grey-leafed elm, and hoary elm. Its natural range extends through the lands of the central and eastern Mediterranean, from southern Italy,[2] the islands of Sicily,[3] Malta,[4]Crete,[5]Rhodes[6] and Cyprus, and through Thrace[7] to Turkey,[8][9] and as far south as Israel, where it is now considered rare and endangered in the wild.[10] The tree is typically found amidst the comparatively humid coastal woodlands and scrublands.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of the tree remains a matter of contention; Melville originally treated the tree as a species in its own right, U. canescens,[11] while others, notably Richens, and Browicz & Ziel., sank it as a subspecies of Ulmus minor.[12][13]
Description
The tree is comparatively small, < 20 m high; the slender trunk, its bark coarsely fissured, supporting a rounded crown. The leaves are elliptic to ovate, bluntly toothed, and densely downy on the underside when mature, imbuing them with a distinctive greyish hue.[9] The young shoots also have a whitish-grey down.[4] The tree flowers in February and March, the round samarae, < 15 mm diameter, deeply notched at the outer end, ripen in April.[14][15]
Bark and young leaves, Antal Ben Shaddad, Jerusalem
Ulmus minor subsp. canescens is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease.
Cultivation
Ulmus minor subsp. canescens is occasionally planted as a street tree in Israel, notably in Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate along the Prophets Road and Antal Ben Shaddad street. In Nazareth, a line of mature trees is found along the road leading to the Basilica. It is also planted in Jordan, especially Amman. [citation needed] There are no known cultivars of this taxon, nor is it known to be in commerce.
^'Canescens' in Crete, (1) in the Apokoronas region: George Sfikas, Trees and shrubs of Greece (Athens, 2nd ed. 2001) p.140; (2) in the Aghia Irene gorge in the Temenos region: Natural Europe Project, University of Crete, Small leaved Elm, Ulmus minor subsp. canescens, Avramakis, M., europeana.eu [1][2][3]
^Melville, R. (1978). On the discrimination of species in hybrid swarms with special reference to Ulmus and the nomenclature of U. minor (Mill.) and U. carpinifolia (Gled.). Taxon 27: 345-351