''Ulmus davidiana'', also known as the David elm, or Father David elm, is a small

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

tree widely distributed across China, Mongolia, Korea, Siberia, and Japan, where it is found in wetlands along streams at elevations of 2000–2300 m (6,500–7,500 ft).Fu, L., Xin, Y. & Whittemore, A. (2002). Ulmaceae, in Wu, Z. & Raven, P. (eds) ''Flora of China'', Vol. 5 (Ulmaceae through Basellaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, USA

/ref> The tree was first described in 1873 from the hills north of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China.

Classification

Two varieties of ''Ulmus davidiana'' are recognized: var. ''davidiana'', occurring only in China, and var. ''japonica'' Rehder, the more widely ranging Japanese Elm.

Description

''Ulmus davidiana'' is considered to have a remarkable resemblance to the American elm (''U. americana'') in all but ultimate size.Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. ''Journal of Arboriculture'', (Nov. 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, US

The tree grows to a maximum height of 15 m (50 ft), with a relatively slender trunk < 0.3 m (1 ft)

d.b.h. Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

supporting a dense canopy casting a heavy shade. Its bark remains smooth for a comparatively long time, before becoming longitudinally fissured. The leaves, often dark red on emergence, are

obovate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

to obovate-elliptic < 10 cm (4 in) × < 5 cm (2 in), with a minimal petiole of 2-3mm; the upper surface is rough. The perfect, wind-pollinated

apetalous Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually ...

flowers are produced on second-year shoots in March, followed by obovate samarae < 19 mm (3/4 in) long × < 14 mm (1/2 in) wide. File:Morfeo 025.jpg, Emergent leaves File:Davidiana leaves.jpg, Leaves in midsummer File:Seed Ulmus davidiana.jpg, Samarae File:SHHG Ulmus davidiana bark.jpg, Bark of juvenile tree File:David Elm with DED Aug 2009.jpg, ''U. davidiana'' with DED File:U. davidiana closed canopy.jpg, Closed canopy of ''U. davidiana'', casting heavy shade File:David & Japanese elm leaves.jpg, Leaves of David Elm (left) and Japanese Elm (right) for comparison File:Bark of David Elm Ulmus davidiana.jpg, Bark of 30-year-old tree

Pests and diseases

Evaluated with other Chinese elms at the

Morton Arboretum The Morton Arboretum, in Lisle, Illinois, United States, is a public garden, and outdoor museum with a library, herbarium, and program in tree research including the Center for Tree Science. Its grounds, covering 1,700 acres (6.9 square kilometres ...

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

, the tree was found to have a good resistance 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 ...

(DED) ''Morton Arboretum Quarterly'' 31: 1-9, 1995
In the '' Butterfly Conservation'' trials in the UK, trees grown from seed obtained in Liaoning, China, by the

were defoliated at the crown by DED when only 6 years old and < 4 m (13 ft) high, but recovered.Brookes, A. H. (2022). ''Great Fontley Elm Trial, 2022 Report''. Butterfly Conservation,

Lulworth Lulworth is the popular name for an area on the coast of Dorset, South West England notable for its castle and cove. However, there is no actual place or feature called simply "Lulworth", the villages are East and West Lulworth and the coastal f ...

, England. The species is reputed to have a good resistance to 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 ...

'', elm yellows (elm phloem necrosis) and

leafminer A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies ( Symphyta, the mother clade of wasps) ...

s in the USA.
However, in trials at Great Fontley in England, the tree was heavily afflicted by

slime flux Slime flux, also known as bacterial slime or bacterial wetwood, is a bacterial disease of certain trees, primarily elm, cottonwood, poplar, boxelder, ash, aspen, fruitless mulberry and oak. A wound to the bark, caused by pruning, insects, poo ...

during the exceptional drought of summer 2022; the only elm to be so.

Cultivation

''Ulmus davidiana'' is only rarely cultivated in the West, being unsuited to all but very sheltered, humid conditions, and is intolerant of ponding. In trials conducted by '' Butterfly Conservation'' at Great Fontley Farm, Fareham, England, specimens often grew too rapidly in the comparatively benign conditions, the narrow stem unable to bear the weight of the burgeoning crown, leaving the tree arching to the ground ("Pruning can help the plant result in a more structurally stable branching pattern" D'Amato, N. & Sydnor, T. (2005). ''David Elm use for increasing biodiversity'', Columbus, Ohio, USA

/ref>). The same trees commenced flowering when aged nine years, in mid-March. The tree was briefly propagated and marketed by the Hillier & Sons nursery,

Winchester, Hampshire Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Londo ...

from 1971 to 1977, during which time only four were sold.Hillier & Sons (1977). ''Catalogue of Trees & Shrubs''. Hillier, Ampfield, UK.Hillier & Sons ''Sales inventory 1962 to 1977'' (unpublished). There are no known

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 ...

s of this taxon, nor is it known to be in commerce beyond the United States.

American testing

The David Elm has shown some promise as a result of testing at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

(OSU) in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

.Struve, D. K. and Rhodus, T. (1990). Turning copper into gold. ''Amer. Nurseryman'', 172: 114-123. At OSU, the plants were cultivated in copper-lined pots and planted in a wide lawn under a powerline and in small home lawns. The tree's performance has been mixed, but shows potential. Some specimens did extremely well, while others struggled. The tree seems to perform well on disturbed sites, in calciferous (alkaline) soils, and also seems to have a better tolerance for wet soil than the literature has indicated. A number of strong saplings were cultivated that show promise. Some saplings underwent judicious pruning early on to maximize structural stability of the plant, and blue-colored tree shelters were used on some plants until the stem reached a diameter of 25–37 mm. Additional observation shows that at least 50% of emerging leaves on the trees survived a hard freeze that lasted 5 days during April 2007. Leaves were approximately 70% emerged when temperatures fell to −6° C (21° F). Temperatures fell below freezing for 5 days (April 4–8, 2007).

Notable trees

The UK TROBI Champion is a relatively young tree at White House Farm, Ivy Hatch, Kent, measuring 5 m high by 17 cm

in 2009.Johnson, O. (2011). ''Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland'', p. 168. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. .

Etymology

The tree is named for Father Armand David, the French missionary and naturalist who introduced the tree to France in the 19th century.

Accessions

;North America * Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 5957 (wild collected), 785-80 (cult. from wild material). *

Brenton Arboretum The Brenton Arboretum is a 141-acre arboretum and public garden in Dallas Center, Iowa, United States, established in 1997. The arboretum displays 175 native Iowa trees and shrubs suitable to the site, as well as many other tree species which ca ...

, US. No details available. *

Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shor ...

, US. Five trees, no other details available. *

Dawes Arboretum The Dawes Arboretum is a nonprofit arboretum located in Newark, Ohio. It includes nearly of plant collections, gardens and natural areas. The site includes approximately 12 miles (19 km) of hiking trails and roadways for a four-mile (6&nbs ...

, US

Newark, Ohio, Newark, US. Two trees, no acc. details available. *

Denver Botanic Gardens The Denver Botanic Gardens is a public botanical garden located in the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. The park contains a conservatory, a variety of theme gardens and a sunken amphitheater, which hosts various concerts in the su ...

, US. Acc. no. 950870. No details available. *

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. 00-318, Three specimens wild collected. *Morton Arboretum, US. Acc. no. 427-84 *

United States National Arboretum The United States National Arboretum is an arboretum in northeast Washington, D.C., operated by the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It was established in 1927 by an act of Congress after a campaign by USDA ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, US. Acc. no. 64463 ;Europe * Arboretum Poort Bultenbr>

Losser Losser () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. It is at the eastern end of the A1 motorway. Population centres Losser The oldest known reference to Losser dates from the tenth century.Stenvert, R. et al. (1998). ''Monumenten ...

, The Netherlands. Acc. no. LOS0243. *

Brighton & Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and ...

City Council, UK.

NCCPG Plant Heritage, formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), is a botanical conservation organisation in the United Kingdom and a registered charity. It was founded in 1978 to combine the talents of b ...

Elm Collection. *

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 Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, UK. Acc. no. 510 *Great

Fontley Funtley – from the Anglo-Saxon, "Funtaleg", "spring field (clearing)", is a hamlet or exurb north of Fareham, Hampshire, England. It forms a projection towards the South Downs National Park and is generally included within Fareham's populat ...

Farm, Fareham, UK, '' Butterfly Conservation'' Elm Trials plantation, Home Field (4 specimens), Platt (1 specimen), all planted 2002, grown from seed collected Liaoning, China, collected by Dr George Ware, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois, US. *Hortus Botanicus Nationalis,

Salaspils Salaspils (; german: Kircholm; sv, Kirkholm) is a town in Latvia, the administrative centre of Salaspils Municipality. The town is situated on the northern bank of the Daugava river, 18 kilometers to the south-east of the city of Riga. His ...

, Latvia. Acc. no. 18095 * Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala, Sweden. Acc. no. 2001-1659, obtained from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. *

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Botanic Garden, UK. Acc. no. 0004891. *

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. 20021373, 20030905 grown from seed wild collected Liaoning, China, and Korea resp. * Sir Harold Hillier Gardens,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, UK. Acc. nos. 2000.0018, 2004.0514 * Wijdemeren City Council, Netherlands. Elm collection. Planted Smeerdijkgaarde, Kortenhoef 2013.

References

External links

* Sheet labelled ''U. davidiana'' Planch., Arnold Arboretum specimen, 1960