The

Field Elm ''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 northern ...

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 minor'' 'Umbraculifera Gracilis' was obtained as a sport of 'Umbraculifera' by the

Späth nursery The Späth (often spelt ''Spaeth'') family created one of the world's most notable plant nurseries of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The nursery had been founded in 1720 by Christoph Späth but removed to the erstwhile district of Baumschulen ...

of Berlin c.1897. It was marketed by the Späth nursery in the early 20th century, and by the Hesse Nursery of

Weener Weener () is a town in the district of Leer, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Ems. The towns population is at 15,654, making it the largest town of the region Rheiderland. It has a railw ...

, Germany, in the 1930s.

Description

The tree is distinguished by its long oval crown, but with thinner branches and smaller leaves than ' Umbraculifera'. File:EdC-BL-1989-12-A.jpg, 'Umbraculifera Gracilis',

Bruntsfield Links Bruntsfield Links is of open parkland in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, immediately to the south-west of the adjoining Meadows. Unlike The Meadows, which formerly contained a loch drained by the end of the 18th century, Bruntsfield Links has always ...

, Edinburgh (1989) Image:Ulmus aff. Plotii - RBGE.jpg, 'Umbraculifera Gracilis', winter,

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 ...

File:Ulmus minor aff 'Plotii'. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Foliage, RBGE, October Image:Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera Gracilis' - Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh. Nov 2015.jpg, Pressed leaves of Bruntsfield Links specimen File:Ulmus minor aff 'Plotii'. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (4).jpg, Bole, RBGE, showing graft-mark bottom right File:Ulmus minor aff. 'Plotii'. Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Trunk and branching of Bruntsfield Links tree

Pests and diseases

The cultivar is 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 ...

Cultivation

The only known surviving specimens are in the United States and Scotland (see 'Accessions' and 'Notable trees'). Henry (1913) mentions no example at

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

, though a specimen had been planted there by 1902. A specimen obtained from Späth stood in the

Ryston Hall Ryston Hall, Ryston, Norfolk, England is a 17th-century country house built by Sir Roger Pratt for himself. The house was constructed between 1669 and 1672 in the Carolean style. In the late 18th century, John Soane made alterations to the hous ...

arboretum,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, in the early 20th century. 'Umbraculifera Gracilis' has been included in the propagation programme (2017) of

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 ...

. file:Ulmus aff. Plotii Edinburgh - Bruntsfield Links - April 2015.jpg, 'Umbraculifera Gracilis', Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh (April 2015) File:Ulmus minor aff 'Plotii'. Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh (2).jpg, Same (October 2016) File:Ulmus minor aff. 'Plotii'. Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Bark and foliage of same File:Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera Gracilis', Edinburgh, October 2014.jpg, Early autumn colour of same (2014)

Notable trees

Three trees supplied by Späth to the

(RBGE) in 1902 as ''U. campestris umbraculifera gracilis'' survive in Edinburgh (2019). The two oldest, planted in the Garden itself (one of which is base-grafted), were long known by an updated version of Melville's name for them, ''U. plotii'' × ''U. carpinifolia'' Sheet described as ''U. campestris umbraculifera'' (RBGE specimen C2717); renamed ''U. plotii'' × ''U. carpinifolia'' by Melville (:''U. minor'' 'Plotii' × ''U. minor''). It is known that Melville renamed some of Späth's trees at RBGE in 1958. These two were, according to one RBGE herbarium sheet, formerly called ''U. campestris umbraculifera'', the name of the parent tree (not present in RBGE) of 'Umbraculifera Gracilis'. A herbarium specimen from Amsterdam labelled ''U. carpinifolia'' Gled. f. 'Gracilis' var. (Späth) Rehd. matches the Edinburgh trees. Taken together, the evidence suggested that the three Edinburgh trees (the third, with smaller bole-girth, is on

) were the clone Späth supplied as ''U. campestris'' 'Umbraculifera Gracilis', an identification confirmed in 2016 by RBGE. It is not known why Melville was permitted to disregard the trees' documented Central Asian provenance, and pronounce them hybrids of Plot Elm, a local variety of English field elm. File:Edinburgh RBG- Ulmus No.1A.jpg, The second, ungrafted, RBGE 'Umbraculifera Gracilis' (1989) File:Ulmus minor aff 'Plotii'. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh (1).jpg, Same (October 2016)

Synonymy

*''Ulmus carpinifolia'' var. ''gracilis'': Krüssmannbr>
''Handbuch der Laubgehölze'' 2: 534, 1962. *''Ulmus camp. umbraculifera nova''

Accessions

North America

Holden Arboretum The Holden Arboretum, in Kirtland, Ohio, is one of the largest arboreta and botanical gardens in the United States, with more than , including devoted to collections and gardens. Diverse natural areas and ecologically sensitive habitats make up t ...

, US. Acc. no. 60-164

Europe

*Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK. Acc. nos. 19699358, 19699365

Nurseries

Europe

*Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw,

Kampenhout Kampenhout () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Berg, Buken, Kampenhout proper and Nederokkerzeel. On 1 January 2006 Kampenhout had a total population of 10,956. The total ...

, Belgium. ('Umbraculifera' listed separately to 'Umbraculifera Gracilis').Centrum voor Botanische Verrijking vzw
Voorraadlijst
accessdate: November 2, 2016 *Baumschulen Bauch GbR,

Rheinbach Rheinbach is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district (Landkreis), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Cologne. Geography Situated south-west of Bonn and south of Cologne, Rheinbach ...

, Germany. Baumschulen Bauch GbR
Sortimentsliste 2016-17
accessdate: November 2, 2016

References

{{Elm species, varieties, hybrids, hybrid cultivars and species cultivars , state=collapsed Field elm cultivar Ulmus Ulmus Edinburgh Spath 1902