''Ulmus macrocarpa'' Hance, the large-fruited elm, is a

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 or large shrub endemic to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

excluding Japan. It is notable for its tolerance of drought and extreme cold and is the predominant vegetation on the dunes of the

Khorchin The Khorchin ( mn, Хорчин, ''Horçin''; ''Qorčin''; ) are a subgroup of the Mongols that speak the Khorchin dialect of Mongolian and predominantly live in northeastern Inner Mongolia of China. History The Ming dynasty gave Borjigin p ...

sandy lands in the

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

province of north-eastern China, making a small tree at the base of the dunes, and a shrub at the to

Description

By the age of ten years, the tree bears a close resemblance to the

American elm ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to F ...

''U. americana'', but will never approach the latter's size. The tree can reach a height of 17 m, with a slender trunk rarely exceeding 0.4 m d.b.h; the bark is longitudinally fissured, and dark grey in colour. The twigs often develop corky wings that may persist for several years. The leaves are usually

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 ...

< 9 cm long by 5 cm broad''Ulmus macrocarpa'' in Arnold Arboretum, photographs by William Friedman, arboretum.harvard.edu/plants/image
/ref> (significantly smaller on juvenile trees) and chiefly characterized by their thick, leathery texture and obtusely doubly or simply toothed margins. 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 appear from March until May. As implied by its name, ''U. macrocarpa'' is distinguished by its large, orbicular, wafer-like samarae < 50 mm in diameter, which ripen in May and June.Fu, L. & Jin J. (eds). (1992). ''China Red Data Book. Rare and endangered plants. Vol. 1''. Science Press, BeijingFu, 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> Image:Macrocarpa leaves.jpg, Leaves of juvenile tree

Pests and diseases

Possessed of a moderate 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 ...

and a low susceptibility to

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 th ...

, it has also proven very resistant to the 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 ...

'' in trials in Oklahomabr>
and Italy.

Cultivation

''U. macrocarpa'' was introduced to the UK at Aldenham House in Hertfordshire in the late 19th century by Vicary Gibbs (1853–1932),Bean, W. J. (1981). ''Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain'', 7th edition. Murray, London almost certainly as part of the

quincunx A quincunx () is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry (d ...

elm avenue leading to the front of the house.Audrey Le Lievre (1986). An Account of the Garden at Aldenham House and of Its Makers: Henry Hucks Gibbs, Vicary Gibbs and Edwin Beckett. ''Garden History'', Vol. 14, No. 2. (Autumn, 1986), 173–193. The tree was propagated and marketed in the UK 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 1949, with 47 sold from 1962 to 1977. Hillier & Sons (1977). ''Catalogue of Trees & Shrubs''. Hillier, Ampfield, UK.Hillier & Sons ''Sales inventory 1962 to 1977'' (unpublished). The tree was introduced to the United States at the Arnold Arboretum,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, in 1908. It has been assessed 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 ...

, for its landscape potential, and is now considered suitable for open areas such as parks and campuses.Ware, G. (1995). Little-known elms from China: landscape tree possibilities. ''Journal of Arboriculture'', (Nov. 1995). International Society of Arboriculture, Champaign, Illinois, U

Typically, ''U. macrocarpa'' is intolerant of poorly drained ground prone to waterlogging, but has been found to be the most cold hardy of the Chinese elms in artificial freezing tests at the Morton Arboretum, the

LT50 LT50 is the median Lethal Time (time until death) after exposure of an organism to a toxic substance or stressful condition. LT50 is commonly used in toxicology studies to quantify amount of a stressor necessary to kill an organism. LT50 can be use ...

(temp. at which 50% of tissues die) was - 36 ° C.Shirazi, A. M. & Ware, G. H. (2004). ''Evaluation of New Elms from China for Cold Hardiness in Northern Latitudes''. International Symposium on Asian Plant Diversity & Systematics 2004, Sakura, Japan.

Subspecies & varieties

Two varieties are recognized: var. ''glabra'' Nie & Huang and var. ''macrocarpa'' L.K.Fu

Hybrids, hybrid cultivars and cultivars

A natural hybrid of ''U. macrocarpa'' and ''U. davidiana'' var. ''japonica'', named '' Ulmus × mesocarpa'' was discovered in South Korea in the 1980s. ''U. macrocarpa'' is believed to have been used in recent (post 2000) hybridization experiments at the Morton Arboretum but results have yet (2008) to be published. 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.

Accessions

;North America * Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. nos. 17911, 346–82 (no provenances for either), 377–40 collected in China. *

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. one specimen, 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. Listed as ''U. macrocarpa'' var. ''dorsetti'' (unrecognized variety), acc. no. 97–26. *

, US. Acc. nos. 589–64, 179–84, 286–95
589-54*3
* U S National Arboretum,

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. nos. 70030, 76229, 76230, 76231, 76247, 68915. Also, listed as ''U. macrocarpa'' var. ''dorsettii'': 68990, 76232, 64253. ;Europe *Botanic Garden of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

, Denmark. No details available. * Cambridge Botanic Gardenbr>

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, UK. No accession details available. *

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) ...

br>
Sutton St. James, Spalding, Lincs., UK. Acc. no. 831, as var. ''Dorsettii''. * Linnaean Gardens of Uppsala, Sweden. Acc. nos. 1976–1142, 1976–2032, 0000–1484. *

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. no. 20022149 (grown from seed sold by Lawyer Nursery, US).Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. (2017). ''List of Living Accessions: Ulmus'

/ref> *Strona Arboretum, University of Life Sciences,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland. No details available. *Wijdemeren Elm Arboretum, Frans Halslaan,

Loosdrecht Loosdrecht () is a town in the municipality of Wijdemeren, North Holland, the Netherlands, with a population of about 8,600 inhabitants. Loosdrecht consists of two small villages: Nieuw-Loosdrecht and Oud-Loosdrecht. Nieuw Loosdrecht covers a ...

, Wijdemeren City Council, Netherlands. No details available.

Nurseries

;Europe *Noordplant Nurser

Glimmen Glimmen is a village in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Groningen, about 10 kilometres from the city. It had a population of around 1,342 in 2021. The river Drentsche Aa flows past the village, nearby the ''Huis ...

, Netherlands.

References

External links

efloras.org: ''U. macrocarpa'' (illustrations 2 to 5)
* ''U. macrocarpa'' Hance, Arnold Arboretum specimen (1930) * ''U. macrocarpa'' Hance, specimen from Manchuria, US National Arboretum, Washington DC (1966) * ''U. macrocarpa'' Hance twigs, US National Arboretum (1966)