Ulmus × hollandica 'Vegeta' (Huntingdon Elm)
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| Ulmus × hollandica |
|---|
 'Huntingon Elm', Brighton, UK |
| Hybrid parentage |
| U. glabra × U. minor |
| Cultivar |
| 'Vegeta' |
| Origin |
| England |
Ulmus × hollandica Mill. 'Vegeta' Lindley , sometimes known as the Huntingdon Elm, is an old English cultivar raised at Brampton, near Huntingdon by nurserymen Wood & Ingram in 1746, allegedly from seed collected from an Ulmus × hollandica hybrid at nearby Hinchingbrooke Park [1]. The tree was often confused by nineteenth century writers with the Chichester Elm, a very similar cultivar but raised earlier in the 18th century in Essex. Before the advent of Dutch elm disease many of the Huntingdon Elms commonly grew to over 35 m in height, with long, straight, ascending branches. [2] [2]. The glossy, oval leaves are < 12 cm long by < 7.5 cm broad contracting at the apex to a sharp point, on smooth branchlets that never feature corky wings. The tightly-clustered flowers are bright red, and appear in early spring. The samarae are obovate, < 25 mm long. The tree suckers freely, and a comparatively high percentage of the seed is usually viable [3].
The tree was widely cultivated in England owing to its very rapid growth (< 3 m per annum) and attractive wide-spreading form, but its habit of forking sometimes led to splitting of the trunk and premature death. A reputed Huntingdon Elm at Magdalen College, Oxford, was for a time the largest elm known in Britain before it was blown down in 1911. It measured 44 m tall, its trunk at breast height 2.6 m in diameter [1]. However, its calculated age would place its planting long before the introduction of the Huntingdon Elm, and the tree in question was more likely a Chichester Elm.
There are many surviving trees around the Millfields, Hackney, London, UK, and very old examples survive on the university campuses at Cambridge; others can be found in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Abergavenny, Caernarfon, Clifton (Bristol), and notably on Southsea Common in Portsmouth, isolated from disease by the sea and urban sprawl. Introduced to Australasia, the tree was marketed by several Australian nurseries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable street plantings include the Avenue of Honour in Ballarat in 1918, and Brisbane Avenue, Canberra [4]. Some very large specimens survive in New Zealand, notably in Auckland where it is considered "the finest of all the elms" in that city. The nine trees forming a circle around the rotunda at Auckland Zoo are described as "magnificent... with stately crowns and spreading, drooping branches" [5].
'Vegeta' was planted in huge numbers across Amsterdam after the Second World War as a replacement for Dutch elms, and was itself eventually replaced by the Dutch cultivar 'Dodoens' [3]. 'Vegeta' is also known to have been introduced to Eastern Europe during the 19th century; it was marketed (as U. montana vegeta) in Poland by the Ulrich nursery [6], Warsaw, and survives in several arboreta.
Contents |
[edit] Hybrid cultivars
- 'Commelin', U.'260' (Ulmus × hollandica × Ulmus pumila) raised at Wageningen but never commercially released. A few specimens survive as part of the Brighton & Hove CC NCCPG Elm Collection at Happy Valley Park, Woodingdean.
[edit] Arboreta etc. accessions
[edit] North America
- Holden Arboretum acc. no. 70-128
- Morton Arboretum acc. nos. 593-30, 71-70
- New York Botanical Garden acc. no. 529/89
[edit] Europe
- Brighton & Hove City Council, UK, NCCPG Elm Collection [4].
- Kildangan Stud, Kildangan, Éire. Single tree, no details available.
- Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia One tree, planted 1998, acc. no. 18127.
- Rainis Park, Liepaja, Latvia. Two trees, planted before 1994.
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh acc. no. 19699364
- Westonbirt Arboretum [5],Tetbury, Glos., UK, two trees, one without planting date or acc. no., the other planted 2001, acc. no. 1999/118.
[edit] Australasia
- Box Hill, (central plantation), Victoria, Australia
- Colac Botanic Gardens, Australia
- Eastwoodhill Arboretum [6], Gisborne, New Zealand, 3 trees, details not known.
- Fawkner Park, South Yarra, Australia
- Kyneton Botanic Gardens, Kyneton, Australia
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne [7], Australia
- Waite Arboretum [8], University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia, acc. no. 336
[edit] Nurseries
[edit] Europe
- Brian Lewington [9], Heathfield, East Sussex, UK.
[edit] Australasia
[edit] Synonymy
- Ulmus campestris wendworthiensis Hort.: Schelle in Beissner et al., Handb. Laubh.-Benenn. 84, 1903.
- Ulmus campestris wentworthiensis: Späth nursery, (Berlin, Germany), Cat. 143, p. 135, 1910-11.
- Ulmus campestris 'Wentworthii': Dippel [11], Handb. Laubh. 2: 24, 1892.
- Ulmus huntingdonensis: Dieck (Zöschen, Germany) Haupt-Cat. Nachtrag 1, 1887, p.28.
- Ulmus huntingdonii Hort.: Rehder, in Bailey, Stand. Cycl. Hort. 6: 3411, 1917, in synonymy.
- Ulmus wentworthii pendula: C. de Vos [12], Handboek, Supplement, 16, 1890.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. pp 1848-1929. Private publication. [1]
- ^ White, J. & More, D. (2002). Trees of Britain and northern Europe. Cassell, London.
- ^ Bean, W. J. (1981). Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition. Murray, England.
- ^ Spencer, R., Hawker, J. and Lumley, P. (1991). Elms in Australia. Australia: Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. ISBN 0724199624
- ^ Auckland Botanical Society (2003). Journal Vol. 58 (1), June 2003. ISSN 0113-41332
- ^ Ulrich, C. (1894), Katalog Drzew i Krezewow, C. Ulrich, Rok 1893-94, Warszawa
