Ulmus 'Jacqueline Hillier'

The 'dwarf' elm cultivar ''Ulmus'' 'Jacqueline Hillier' ('JH') is an elm of uncertain origin. It was cloned from a specimen found in a private garden in Selly Park, Birmingham, England, in 1966.''Hilliers' Manual of Trees & Shrubs''. Ed. 4, 399, (1977); David & Charles, Newton Abbot, UK The garden's owner told Hillier that it might have been introduced from outside the country by a relative. Hillier at first conjectured ''U. minor'', as did Heybroek (2009). Identical-looking elm cultivars in Russia (if they are not imported 'JH') are labelled forms of Siberian Elm, ''Ulmus pumila'', which is known to produce 'JH'-type long shoots. Melville considered 'JH' a hybrid cultivar from the 'Elegantissima' group of '' Ulmus × hollandica''. Uncertainty about its parentage has led most nurserymen to list the tree simply as ''Ulmus'' 'Jacqueline Hillier'. 'JH' is not known to produce flowers and samarae, or (when grown from cuttings) root suckers.

Not to be confused with ''Ulmus'' × ''hollandica'' 'Hillieri', an older miniature elm from the same nursery.

Description

With time 'JH' makes a large shrub, then a small tree, initially of dense habit, but spreading with age if left unpruned. It bears small, double-toothed scabrid leaves 2.5 cm to 3.5 cm long on densely hairy twigs. In winter its tidy 'herringbone' branches and branchlets proclaim it an elm, despite its shrublike size.

Image:Jacqueline Hillier foliage.jpg, Foliage of 'JH'
File:Ulmus Jacqueline Hillier 2016-04-28 8946.jpg, Bark of 'JH'
File:Om de Jacqueline (Ulmus x elegantissima), jardí botànic, València (cropped).JPG, Same

Pests and diseases

Resistance to Dutch elm disease is not known, but is probably academic as the tree is unlikely to attain the height at which it would attract the attention of the bark beetles that act as vectors of the disease. In trials in the United States, 'JH' was found to be virtually unaffected by the Elm Leaf Beetle ''Xanthogaleruca luteola'

Cultivation

'JH' is commonly found in cultivation in Europe and the United States,Photograph of 'JH' in the Netherlands
/ref> where it is considered particularly suitable for small gardens, rockeries, low hedges, and bonsai. A hardy tree, it is said to survive temperatures as low as in North America. Despite its dwarf nature and its reputation as a slow-grower, 'JH' is said to grow by in ten years, faster than the dwarf wych elm Ulmus 'Nana', 'Nana'.

Etymology

The cultivar was named for a daughter-in-law of Sir Harold Hillier by Roy Lancaster, when Curator of the Hillier Arboretum.

Notable trees

The UK TROBI Champion grows at Talbot Manor in Norfolk, measuring 8 m high by 28 cm d.b.h. in 2008. Another at Exbury Gardens in Hampshire measured 6 m high by 35 cm d.b.h. in 2006 Johnson, O. (2011). ''Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland'', 169. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. .
In keeping with the ancient tradition of planting funerary elms to commemorate the dead, specimens of 'Jacqueline Hillier' were planted on either side of the memorial to the dead in the Quintinshill rail disaster, Britain's worst rail disaster, in Rosebank Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Image:Memorial to victims of the Gretna Rail Disaster in Rosebank Cemetery, Edinburgh.jpg, 'JH' beside the Quintinshill Rail Disaster Memorial, Rosebank Cemetery, Edinburgh.

Accessions

;North America
*Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois, US. 1 tree in Educational Center Gardens, listed as ''U. × hollandica'' 'Jacqueline Hillier'.
*Dawes Arboretumbr>
Ohio, US. 3 trees, no acc. details available.
*Scott Arboretum, US. Acc. no. 93-518
;Europe
* Arboretum de La Petite Loiteriebr>
Monthodon, France. No details available
*Bradenham Hall Garden & Arboretum, Thetford, Norfolk, U

One tree planted 1986.
*Brighton & Hove City Council, UK. NCCPG Elm Collectio


*Dubrava Arboretum, Lithuania. As ''U. × hollandica'' 'Jacqueline Hillier', no other details available.
* ELTE Botanic Garden, Budapest, Hungary. Acc. no. 19981834
* Granada Arboretum, Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK. UK Champion, 6 m high, 38 cm d.b.h. in 2004.
*Grange Farm Arboretumbr>
Lincolnshire, Lincs., UK. Acc. no. 835.
*Hortus Botanicus Nationalis, Salaspils, Latvia. Acc. nos. 18122,3,4,5 (as ''U. hollandica'' 'Jacqueline Hillier').
* Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala, Finland. Acc. no. 2008-0277
*Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK. Acc. no. 1997-31
*Royal Horticultural Society Gardens, Wisley, UK. No details available
*Strona Arboretum, University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. As ''U. minor'' 'Jacqueline Hillier'.
*University of Copenhagen Botanic Garden, Denmark. Acc. no. P1982-5281
*University Parks, Oxford, UK. No details available
*University of Oxford Botanic Garden, UK. Acc. no. 1999115.2
*Westonbirt Arboretumbr>
Tetbury, Glos., UK. (As ''U. minor'' 'Jacqueline Hillier'). Acc. nos 1987/762, 1993/187.
;Australasia
*Eastwoodhill Arboretumbr>
Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne, New Zealand. 1 tree, details not known.

Nurseries

;North America
Widely available
;Europe
Widely available

References

External links

'Jacqeline Hillier', Dwarf Elm www.paghat.com''Ulmus'' × ''hollandica'' 'Jacqueline Hillier', The Plantfinder's Encyclopedia, www.plantpress.com

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