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 ''Ulmus minor'' 'Purpurascens' was listed by Lavallée in ''Arboretum Segrezianum'' (1877) as ''U. campestris'' var. ''purpurascens'' (''purpurea''), but without description, and later by

Schneider Schneider may refer to: Hospital * Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel People * Schneider (surname) Companies and organizations * G. Schneider & Sohn, a Bavarian brewery company * Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, the former owner of th ...

in ''Illustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde'' (1904).Henry (1913) gives ''Laubholzkunde'' 1894. Krüssmann in ''Handbuch der Laubgehölze'' (1962) identified it as a cultivar. Schneider, Henry, and Green believed the cultivar 'Myrtifolia Purpurea', which was also first listed in 1877, a synonym of ''U minor'' 'Purpurascens'.

Description

The tree has small leaves approximately 25 mm long, rough above, downy beneath, tinged with purple when young, but turning dark green later. The twigs are downy. Green noted that the tree usually remains small.

Pests and diseases

See under ''Ulmus minor''.

Cultivation

A grafted tree at Kew Gardens labelled ''U. campestris'' var. ''purpurascens'', planted in 1885, was 20 ft tall by 1912. (For specimens supplied 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 ...

as ''U. campestris myrtifolia purpurea'', see 'Myrtifolia Purpurea'.)

Notable trees

Three trees survive in Hove, one of them the UK champion (see 'Accessions'). Until 2018 one was misidentified as the large-leaved purple elm ''U.'' × ''hollandica'' 'Purpurascens'.

Synonymy

*''Ulmus myrtifolia purpurea'' (?): Louis de Smetbr>
( Ghent, Belgium), Catalogue 10, p. 59, 1877.

Accessions

;Europe *

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 H ...

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. Cottesmore St. Mary School, Hove (1 tree, National Champion, 18 m high, 51 cm

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, ...

in 1993Johnson, O. (2011). ''Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland'', p. 168. Kew Publishing, Kew, London. ); Brighton & Hove Prep School, Radinden Manor Rd, Hove (1 tree); Davigdor Road, Hove (1 tree).

Notes

References

{{Elm species, varieties, hybrids, hybrid cultivars and species cultivars , state=collapsed Field elm cultivar Ulmus articles with images Ulmus