Ulmus Procera - Notable Trees

Notable Trees

Mature English Elms are now only very rarely found beyond Brighton in the UK (see below), although some still survive on the Isle of Man. One large tree still survives in Leicester in Cossington Street Recreation Ground. Several survive (2012) in Edinburgh: one in Rosebank Cemetery (bole-girth 3 metres), two in Founders Avenue, Fettes College (bole-girth 2.5 metres), and one each in Inverleith Park (east avenue) and on Easter Warriston Green. A majestic open-grown specimen (bole-girth 3 metres) in Claremont Park, Leith Links, Edinburgh, retains the dense fan-vaulted crown and great low lateral boughs iconic in the species. There is an isolated mature English Elm in the cemetery at Dervaig, Isle of Mull, Scotland. As a consequence of Empire, some of the most significant remaining stands are to be found overseas, notably in Australia where they line the streets of Melbourne, protected by geography and quarantine from disease. However, many of these trees, now over 100 years old, are succumbing to old age, and are being replaced with new trees raised by material from the older trees budded onto Wych Elm Ulmus glabra rootstock. The tree has been widely planted in New Zealand, and is still commonly found in Auckland where it is regarded at its best as a street tree. In the USA, several fine trees survive in New York City, notably the Hangman's Elm in Washington Square Park; it was also planted as a street tree on the West Coast, notably in St Helena, California

• The oldest known English Elms in the UK, the 'Preston Twins', Brighton, UK, 2008

• One of the English Elms around which the Crystal Palace was built for the Great Exhibition, 1851

• A coloured lithograph of the same (1851)

• One of two large English Elms near Trophy Point at West Point, NY