Ulmus Minor - Notable Trees

Notable Trees

Ulmus minor can live to a great age. An ancient Field Elm stood until recently in the village square of Metaxades, Thrace, Greece . Having abandoned their original village in 1286 after cholera outbreaks, the villagers re-founded it in the hills where a young elm was growing beside a spring. An elm (reputedly the original) and the fountain have been the focal-point of the village ever since. A tree reputedly over 650 years old survived in the centre of Biscarrosse south of Bordeaux until the summer of 2010, when it finally succumbed to Dutch elm disease. Another veteran with a 6-metre girth survives at Bettange, France, close to the Belgian border, reputedly planted in 1593 . A tree approximately 400 years old and 5.55 metres in girth grows in the town of Mergozzo in Piedmont, Italy. 'L'olmo di Mergozzo', like its French counterparts 'l'orme de Biscarosse' and 'l’orme de Bettange', is hollowed out by age, its life prolonged by lopping. Another hollow veteran is the elm in the Plaza del Olmo in Navajas, Valencia, 6.3 metres in girth, planted in 1636 and featuring on the town crest. The tallest recorded Field Elms in Greece were two specimens planted in 1650 beside the newly-built church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, in Omali Voiou (Oμαλή Bοΐου) near Siatista, which, despite being open-grown trees, attained a height of 40 metres by the mid-20th century. The immemorial elm opposite the village square of Aidona in Thessaly, Greece, which has been "listed" as a national "Monument of Nature", lost its crown in a recent storm (2009) and has now been pollarded; it is regenerating vigorously.

A rare example of a centuries-old Field Elm that retains its heartwood and crown is the majestic 360-year old specimen in the village square of Strinylas, Corfu . Trees reputedly even older (200 cm d.b.h.) can be found in Bulgaria near Sliven in the village of Zhelyo voevoda.

In the UK, despite its late leaf-flush in the north and its suckering habits, Ulmus minor was occasionally planted as an ornamental urban tree. Among mature survivors in Edinburgh (2012) are a fine specimen in the grounds of Holyrood Palace, opposite Abbeyhill Crescent, another in the forecourt of the Royal Forth Yacht Club, Boswall Road, and a third on the corner of Abbey Mount and Regent Road. Augustine Henry says that the U. minor planted in parks in Scotland were of French origin.