Ulmus Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

'' 'San Zanobi' is a hybrid

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

raised by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante (IPP) in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, from a crossing of the Dutch hybrid 'Plantyn' (female parent) and the Siberian Elm '' Ulmus pumila'' clone 'S 15'; it was released to commerce in 2002. 'San Zanobi' was introduced to the UK in 2004 by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Branch, ''

Butterfly Conservation Butterfly Conservation (BC) is a UK-wide nonprofit environmentalist organization and charity dedicated to conserving butterflies, moths, and the environment. The charity uses its research to provide advice on how to conserve and restore butterf ...

'', as part of its assessment of DED-resistant cultivars as potential hosts of the endangered

White-letter Hairstreak The white-letter hairstreak (''Satyrium w-album'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Appearance and behaviour A dark little butterfly that spends the majority of its life in the tree tops, feeding on honeydew, making it best observed thr ...

.Brookes, A. H. (2020). ''Great Fontley Elm Trial, 2020 Report''. Butterfly Conservation, Lulworth, England.

Description

'San Zanobi' is a

fastigiate This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

, often

monopodial Vascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The word ''Monopodial'' is derived from Greek language, Greek '', ''one'' and '', "foot", in ...

tree with upright branching bearing

glabrous Glabrousness () is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes, or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of a plant or animal, or be due to loss because of a physical condition, ...

, bright green leaves < 15 cm long × < 6 cm broad.Santini A., Fagnani A., Ferrini F. & Mittempergher L., (2002) San Zanobi and Plinio elm trees. ''HortScience'' 37(7): 1139–1141. 2002. American Society for Horticultural Science, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA.Santini A., Fagnani A., Ferrini F., Mittempergher L., Brunetti M., Crivellaro A., Macchioni N. (2004). Elm breeding for DED resistance, the Italian clones and their wood propertie

''Invest Agrar: Sist. Recur. For.'' (2004) 13 (1), 179–184. 2004. Like its compatriot Ulmus 'Plinio', 'Plinio', the tree lacks striking autumn colours, the leaves remaining green almost until they fall in late November. In Italy, 'San Zanobi' begins flowering in its fifth year (sixth in the UK), and can begin suckering from roots at about the same age. The perfect,

apetalous Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''coroll ...

wind-pollinated flowers appear in mid March in the UK. The sessile samarae are round to ovate, typically 15 × 18 mm. File:San Zanobi leaf and Euro.JPG, 'San Zanobi' leaf, and 1 Euro coin File:Seed Ulmus San Zanobi.jpg, Samarae File:Bark of Italian hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus 'San Zanobi'.jpg, Bark of 20-year-old tree

Pests and diseases

'San Zanobi' has a high resistance to Dutch Elm Disease, and no losses to the disease have been observed. In trials conducted by the Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, 'San Zanobi' sustained 19.5% defoliation and 8.5% dieback when inoculated with unnaturally high concentrations of the fungal pathogen, compared with 50% / 35.5% resp. for 'Lobel', and 95% / 100% for 'CNR118', a field elm (''

Ulmus minor ''Ulmus minor'' Mill., the field elm, is by far the most polymorphic of the European species, although its taxonomy remains a matter of contention. Its natural range is predominantly south European, extending to Asia Minor and Iran; its norther ...

'') native to Italy.

Cultivation

'San Zanobi' has been widely planted across Italy, mostly in towns and cities, notably

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in and around the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

. Introduced to the UK by ''Butterfly Conservation'' in 2004, it was evaluated at several sites in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, where it has proven fast growing, increasing in height by up to 0.87 m and 1.45 cm stem diameter per annum. However, it was found to be intolerant of soils waterlogged over winter. Among urban introductions in the UK are two specimens, planted in 2014, towards the west end of Broad Walk,

Christ Church Meadow, Oxford Christ Church Meadow is a flood-meadow and popular walking and picnic spot in Oxford, England. Roughly triangular in shape, it is bounded by the River Thames (the stretch through Oxford being known as "The Isis"), the River Cherwell, and Chri ...

. As of 1 January 2018, the export of 'San Zanobi' to the UK from Italy is prohibited, the plant unable to qualify for a phytopassport owing to the prevalence of Elm Yellows in the region of cultivation.DEFRA. (2018). UK Plant Health Controls

/ref> However, the tree is grown under licence in the Netherlands and Germany, whence exports to the UK are permitted. 'San Zanobi' is not known to have been introduced to North America or Australasia.

Etymology

The cultivar is named after Saint Zenobius (San Zanobi in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

), a saint noted for many miracles. After his death in AD 417, his body, whilst being carried from the cathedral for burial, is supposed to have glanced a dead elm, restoring the tree to life.

Accessions

;Europe *

Grange Farm Arboretum The Grange Farm Arboretum is a small private arboretum comprising 3 hectares accommodating over 800 trees, mostly native and ornamental species or cultivars, notably oaks, ashes, walnuts and elms, growing on a calcareous loam.Ostler, J. (2009) ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, UK. Acc. no. 694. *Great Fontley Farm,

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

, UK. ''

'' Elm Trials plantation, Home Field. Two whips planted 2004. *

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, UK. Acc. nos. 20090116, 20090402, 20180331Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Catalogue of the Living Collections, data.rbge.org.uk; ''Ulmus'' 'San Zanobi'. Acc. no. 20180331
/ref> * Sir Harold Hillier Gardens,

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...

, UK. One specimen in Plant Centre Field. Acc. no. 2004.0440. *Wijdemeren City Council, Netherlands. Elm collection, ‘s-Gravelandsevaartweg, Loosdrecht, 10 trees planted 2016

References

External links

;Nurseries in Europe * Ebben Nurserie

Cuijk, Netherlands
Eisele GmbH

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany.
Hillier Nurseries
Liss, UK. {{Elm species, varieties, hybrids, hybrid cultivars and species cultivars , state=collapsed Hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus articles with images Ulmus