The American elm

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

''Ulmus americana'' 'Beebe's Weeping' was propagated from a tree growing in the wild at

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, by Mr. E. Beebe in the mid-19th century. Thomas Meehan, who had received cuttings and called it 'Weeping Slippery Elm' before the flowers revealed that it was not ''Ulmus fulva'', suggested the name 'Beebe's Weeping Elm', as there were already ''U. americana'' clones called 'Pendula'. In the early 20th century it was marketed, however, as ''Ulmus'' 'American Galena Weeping', "American Weeping Elm", by the Klehm nursery of

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a municipality in Cook County with a small portion in Lake County in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 77,676. Per the ...

Description

'Beebe's Weeping' has thick cord-like branches which curve over as they grow, similar to a

Weeping Willow ''Salix babylonica'' (Babylon willow or weeping willow; ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.Flora of China'' ...

, creating a dome of foliage. A very fast growing cultivar, trees planted at

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is about ...

, were reputed to gain 6 m (20 ft) per annum.Meehan, Thomas, (1889), in ''Garden & Forest'', 2: 286, 1889
/ref> Klehm's top-grafted it at about 8 ft. A photograph of the "weeping willow" form of ''U. americana'' appears in Laney's 'The Types of the American elm' (1908; figure 6).

Pests and diseases

No specific information available, but the species as a whole is highly susceptible to

Dutch Elm Disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

and

Elm Yellows Elm yellows is a plant disease of elm trees that is spread by leafhoppers or by root grafts."Elm Yellows." Elmcare.Com. 19 Mar. 2008 . Elm yellows, also known as elm phloem necrosis, is very aggressive, with no known cure. Elm yellows occurs in the ...

; it is also moderately preferred for feeding and reproduction by the adult Elm Leaf Beetle ''

Xanthogaleruca luteola ''Xanthogaleruca luteola'', commonly known as the elm-leaf beetle, is a beetle species in the family Chrysomelidae that is native to Europe but invasive in other parts of the world.http://cisr.ucr.edu/elm_leaf_beetle.html - Center for Invasive Sp ...

'', and highly preferred for feeding by the Japanese Beetle ''

Popillia japonica The Japanese beetle (''Popillia japonica'') is a species of scarab beetle. The adult measures in length and in width, has iridescent copper-colored elytra and a green thorax and head. It is not very destructive in Japan (where it is control ...

'' in the United States. ''U. americana'' is also the most susceptible of all the elms to

verticillium wilt Verticillium wilt is a wilt disease affecting over 350 species of eudicot plants. It is caused by six species of ''Verticillium'' fungi: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. nubilum'', ''V. theobromae'' and ''V. tricorpu ...

.Pegg, G. F. & Brady, B. L. (2002). ''Verticillium Wilts''. CABI Publishing.

Cultivation

Meehan's specimens at Germantown were about 35 ft tall in 1889, with trunks 3.5 ft in girth, suggesting an origins- and planting-date (at 1 inch girth growth a year) of the mid-19th century. A few specimens are known to survive in the United States, mostly in Illinois where the cultivar originated. A curious 'table top' elm growing in the center of Provo,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, planted in 1927 and said to be unique, appears to be less vigorous and more lateral-branched than the cultivar.jacobbarlow.com/2014/04/01/oldest-weeping-american-elm-provo-ut/ 'Oldest Weeping American Elm, Provo, UT'

Etymology

Named for Mr. E. Beebe, discoverer of the tree.

Synonymy

*''Ulmus fulva pendula'': Meehan, ''Garden & Forest'' 2: 286, 1889.

References

{{Elm species, varieties, hybrids, hybrid cultivars and species cultivars , state=collapsed American elm cultivar Ulmus