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. The trees can live for several hundred years. It is a very hardy species that can ...

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

''Ulmus americana'' 'Littleford' was

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

from a tree in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. It is one of the wealthiest communities in Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago with a population of 17,395 ...

, circa 1915 by Littleford Nurseries of

Downers Grove, Illinois Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the village was ...

, and first released in 1927. It was marketed in the 1930s by nearby Hinsdale Nurseries, successor to Littleford Nurseries, as 'Littlefordii'. In their 1925 catalogue Littleford Nurseries had written of their selection: "The growing of the American elm is a specialty with us; we consider it the leading shade and ornamental tree. Our trees are a selected strain of the V-shaped type, a stock of 15 to 20 thousand, all 2 ins. and up in size, transplanted twice and in splendid vigor for planting".

Description

The tree is narrowly vase-shaped, without pendulous branchlets, and with larger and heavier leaves.

Pests and diseases

The clone's resistance to Dutch Elm Disease is not known, but the species as a whole is highly susceptible to the disease and Elm Yellows; it is also moderately preferred for feeding and reproduction by the adult 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 ...

'', and highly preferred for feeding by the Japanese Beetle ''

Popillia japonica The Japanese beetle (''Popillia japonica'') is a species of scarab beetle. Due to the presence of natural predators, the Japanese beetle is not considered a pest in its native Japan, but in North America and some regions of Europe, it is a no ...

'' in the United States. ''U. americana'' is also the most susceptible of all the elms to

verticillium wilt Verticillium wilt is a wilt disease affecting over 350 species of eudicot plants. It is caused by six species of '' Verticillium'' fungi: ''V. dahliae'', ''V. albo-atrum'', ''V. longisporum'', ''V. nubilum'', ''V. theobr ...

.Pegg, G. F. & Brady, B. L. (2002). ''Verticillium Wilts''. CABI Publishing.

Cultivation

'Littleford' was also marketed from the 1930s by the Siebenthaler Company of

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and from the 1940s by Charles Fiore Nurseries of Prairie View, Illinois.Charles Fiore Nurseries, Prairie View, Illinois; 1948 Cat., p.9
/ref> The Sherman Nursery, Charles City,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, stocked it as late as 1957, but it is no longer listed by that emporium or any other. The tree is not known to have been introduced to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Synonymy

*''Ulmus americana'' var. ''Littlefordii'': Bailey & Bailey, ''Hortus Second,'' 746, 747, 1941.

Accessions

;North America *

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 kilometre ...

, US. Acc. no. 862–43.

References

{{Elm species, varieties, hybrids, hybrid cultivars and species cultivars , state=collapsed American elm cultivar Ulmus articles missing images Ulmus Hinsdale, Illinois 1915 introductions