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'' 'Coritana' was originally claimed by Melville, while he was searching in the neighbourhood of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in 1936 for ''U. elegantissima'', as a new species, which he called ''U. coritana''. He later recorded its distribution in the counties of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

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Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

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Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

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and

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. Richens, however, dismissed ''U. coritana'' as 'an artificial aggregate' of local forms of Field Elm.

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

noted (1988) that Melville's ''U. coritana'' was not recognised in the ''Flora of the British Isles'' as a species distinct from ''U. carpinifolia'' ''U. minor'' By the proposed rule that known or suspected clones of ''U. minor'', once cultivated and named, should be treated as cultivars, the tree would be designated ''U. minor'' 'Coritana'.

Description

Described as a rather spreading tree less than high, with ascending branches and rather open crown. Melville identified three varieties of ''U. coritana'': ''var. rotundifolia'', ''var. media'' and ''var. angustifolia'', the three being connected by intermediate forms whose leaves decreased in breadth and increased in asymmetry from south to north. "The species was distinctive," summarized

Gerald Wilkinson Gerald Sedgewick Wilkinson, (9 February 1926 – 10 March 1988''Reading Evening Post'', Tuesday 20 February 1990; p.9) was a British illustrator, art historian, naturalist, photographer, artist and book-designer, known for his books on J. M. W. Tu ...

, "not by its spreading, open crown, but by the bright green, leathery texture and marked asymmetry of its leaves." Melville described the leaves as "the most asymmetrical of any British elm" and included a drawing of them in his 1946 paper, 'The British Elms', in ''The New Naturalist''. A 2007 study of the elms of

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, Ireland, identified a number of introduced field elms there (aside from the known Cornish elms) as closest to Melville's 'Coritana', on account of the leaf's curved midrib and petiole and other diagnostic features.Mackenthun, G. L. (2007) 'The elms of Co. Cork - a survey of species, varieties and forms'. ''Irish Forestry'', Vol 64, (1 & 2) 2007; p.50, p.56

Etymology

Melville named ''U. coritana'' after the ancient British tribe, the

Coritani The Corieltauvi (also the Coritani, and the Corieltavi) were a tribe of people living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and thereafter a '' civitas'' of Roman Britain. Their territory was in what is now the English East Midlands. They were ...

, who had occupied part of the territory in which he found the elm.

Pests and diseases

Like other members of the ''U. minor'' group, Melville's 'Coritana' are 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 ...

, but as they produce abundant root-suckers immature specimens probably survive in their areas of origin.

Cultivation

Specimens held by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and

Wakehurst Place Wakehurst, previously known as Wakehurst Place, is a house and botanic gardens in West Sussex, England, owned by the National Trust but used and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is near Ardingly, West Sussex in the High Weald (g ...

were listed under the species name ''U. coritana''.

Hybrids

Melville considered that both ' Hunnybunii' and ' Sowerbyi' were hybrids of 'Coritana'. He also believed that an elm he called '' Ulmus × diversifolia'' had 'Coritana' in its parentage. Kew and Wakehurst Place lists include putative hybrids between 'Coritana' and other forms of ''U. minor'', and between 'Coritana' and ''

Ulmus glabra ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...

''.

References

External links

var. ''media''

* Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''media'' Melville

var. ''rotundifolia''

* Sheet labelled ''U. coritana'' var. ''rotundifolia'' (Melville specimen), Billericay, Essex (1938) * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''rotundifolia'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''rotundifolia'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''rotundifolia'' Melville

var. ''angustifolia''

* Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''angustifolia'' Melville * Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''angustifolia'' Melville * {{Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , id=K000852663 Sheet described as ''Ulmus coritana'' var. ''angustifolia'' Melville Ulmus Field elm cultivar Ulmus articles with images