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The Wych Elm Ulmus glabra is a large elm native to Europe, Asia Minor, and the Caucasus. Essentially a montane species, the tree occur in Scandinavia as far north as 67°N at Beiarn in Norway. In the British Isles, it was the by far the most common elm in the north and west of the region.
It is a large tree, sometimes reaching heights of 40 m, and a trunk diameter of up to 2 m. It is notable for its very tough, supple young shoots. The leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple ovate or obovate with a lop-sided base, 6-17 cm long and 3-12 cm broad; the upper surface is rough. Leaves on vigorous shoots are sometimes three-lobed near the apex. The flowers appear before the leaves in early spring, produced in clusters of 10-20 together; they are 4 mm across on 1cm long stems and, being wind-pollinated, have no petals. The fruit is a winged samara 20 mm long and 15 mm broad, with a single round 6 mm seed, maturing in late spring.
Closely related species native further east in Asia from the Himalaya eastwards discontinuously to north-eastern China and Japan were formerly sometimes included in Ulmus glabra.
Some botanists divide the species into two subspecies:
- Ulmus glabra subsp. glabra. In the south of the species' range. Leaves broad; trees often with a short, forked trunk and a low, broad crown.
- Ulmus glabra subsp. montana (Stokes) Lindqvist. In the north of the species' range (northern Britain, Scandinavia). Leaves narrower; trees commonly with a long single trunk and a tall, narrow crown.
The species is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease. As it does not sucker extensively from the roots, and any seedlings are often consumed by uncontrolled deer populations, regrowth is very restricted, limited to sprouts from the stumps of young trees. The resultant decline has been extreme and the Wych Elm is now uncommon over much of its former range. In 1998, over 700 healthy, mature trees were discovered on the upper slopes of Mount Simonka in Slovakia, but it is now believed they had survived courtesy of their isolation from disease-carrying beetles rather than any innate resistance. Indeed, DNA analysis in France has determined that the genetic diversity within the species is very limited, leaving the chances of finding a resistant tree rather remote. The cultivar 'Camperdownii' was a popular small/medium size weeping tree for garden use. The curious cultivar 'Exoniensis' or "Exeter Elm" has leaves that wrap around the branchlets, and thus remain attached to the tree well into winter. It is also possessed of a moderate resistance to Dutch elm disease, and commonly featured in the Dutch elm breeding programme in association with the Field Elm U. minor and Himalayan Elm U. wallichiana. Wych Elm readily hybridizes with U. minor in Europe, their natural ranges widely overlapping. The hybrid is commonly known as Dutch Elm (Ulmus × hollandica); several cultivars of it (such as the Huntingdon Elm) have a moderate resistance to Dutch elm disease.
The word wych has its origins in Middle English wiche, from the Old English wice, meaning pliant or supple, and which also gives us wicker and weak. Owing to its former abundance in Scotland, it was occasionally known as the 'Scotch (sic) Elm'; the name Loch Lomond a corruption of the Gaelic Lac Leaman, or 'Lake of the Elms'.
References
- Flora Europaea: Ulmus glabra
- Bean, W. J. (1981). Trees and shrubs hardy in Great Britain, 7th edition. Murray, London.
- Elwes, H. J. & Henry, A. (1913). The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. VII. pp 1848-1929. Private publication, Edinburgh. *
- Heybroek, H. (1983). The Dutch elm breeding program. In Sticklen & Sherald (Eds). Dutch elm disease research (Ch. 3). Springer Verlag, New York.
- Richens, R. H. (1983). Elm. Cambridge University Press.
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"Wych Elm"