Ulmus 'Hillieri'

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Ulmus 'Hillieri'
BH00056 Ulmus. Stanmer Park Arboretum, Brighton. (5).jpg
'Hillieri' in Stanmer Park Arboretum, Brighton, summer, c.2005
Genus Ulmus
Cultivar 'Hillieri'
OriginWinchester, England

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Hillieri' arose from a chance seedling at Hillier's Pitt Corner nursery near Winchester, England, in 1918, [1] and was marketed from 1928 as Ulmus hillieri, [2] a name accepted by Christine Buisman in her 1931 labelling of a specimen in France. Since at least 1944 the tree has been determined a form of Ulmus × hollandica, its designation at Kew Gardens, in Green, [3] and in later Hillier catalogues. [4] In 1940, 'Hillieri' was noted as being a hybrid of uncertain origin. [5] Krüssmann notes that for a time the tree was listed by Hilliers as U. × hillieri. [6]

Contents

Not to be confused with Ulmus 'Jacqueline Hillier', which also has a shrubby habit but much smaller leaves.

Description

'Hillieri' is a graceful, compact, slow-growing miniature tree rarely > 1.2 m in height, [note 1] widely branched and bearing weeping branches. [6] The small leaves (5 – 7 cm by 2.5 – 3 cm [7] ) turn crimson and yellow in favourable autumns, [1] a feature of at least one Japanese Elm cultivar, 'Jacan'. The 'vivid scarlet' of the autumn leaves was noted (1940) as being a unique colouring for elms. [5]

Pests and diseases

The degree of the tree's susceptibility to Dutch elm disease (DED) is unknown. It has been noted that shrub-elms are usually less prone to infection. [8]

Cultivation

A specimen stood in the Arboretum national des Barres, Nogent-sur-Vernisson, France, in the 1930s. [7] 'Hillier' was introduced to the US in 1954 as Ulmus hillieri. [9] An old low shrub-elm in Stanmer Park Arboretum, Brighton (2018, now storm-damaged), planted in the winter of 1965-6, with level rather than pendulous branching and leaves closely matching 'Hillieri' herbarium specimens in Kew Gardens [10] and the Arboretum national des Barres, [7] was said (2018) by Hillier Nurseries, who supplied many elms to the arboretum, to be 'Hillieri', [11] though it is about 4 m tall and lacks crimson autumn colour. Dutch authorities who examined the tree in 2010 conjectured Japanese Elm hybrid. [12]

A tree cultivated in Denmark as Ulmus × hollandica 'Hillieri' or Dukke-elm (:Doll's elm) appears from photographs to be U. 'Jacqueline Hillier'. [13] A tree in the Arboretum Volčji Potok, Slovenia, labelled Ulmus × hollandica 'Hillieri', has leaves much smaller than those of 'Hillieri', and may be a form of dwarf Ulmus parvifolia . [14] [15]

Synonymy

Notes

  1. The 2002 edition of The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs misprints as "usually less than 12 m high" (p.369).

Related Research Articles

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Major Elm cultivar

Ulmus × hollandica 'Major' is a distinctive cultivar that in England came to be known specifically as theDutch Elm, although all naturally occurring Field Elm Ulmus minor × Wych Elm U. glabra hybrids are loosely termed 'Dutch elm'. It is also known by the cultivar name 'Hollandica'. Nellie Bancroft considered 'Major' either an F2 hybrid or a backcrossing with one of its parents.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Groeneveld Elm cultivar

The Dutch hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Groeneveld' was cloned in 1949 at the De Dorschkamp Institute, Wageningen, and released in 1963 in response to the earlier, less virulent form of Dutch elm disease that afflicted Europe shortly after the First World War. The cultivar was derived from a crossing of Dutch clones '49', and '1', a Field Elm Ulmus minor found in central France and marketed by the Barbier nursery in Orléans.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Belgica Elm cultivar

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Belgica', one of a number of hybrids arising from the crossing of Wych Elm with a variety of Field Elm, was reputedly raised in the nurseries of the Abbey of the Dunes, Veurne, in 1694. Popular throughout Belgium and the Netherlands in the 19th century both as an ornamental and as a shelter-belt tree, it was the 'Hollandse iep' in these countries, as distinct from the tree known as 'Dutch Elm' in Great Britain and Ireland since the 17th century: Ulmus × hollandica 'Major'. In Francophone Belgium it was known as orme gras de Malines.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Smithii Elm cultivar

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Smithii', commonly known as the Downton Elm, was one of a number of cultivars arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with the Field Elm U. minor. The tree was originally planted at Downton Castle near Ludlow, as one of a batch, not all of them pendulous in habit, raised at Smith's Nursery, Worcester, England, from seeds obtained from a tree in Nottingham in 1810.

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Dauvessei', one of a number of cultivars arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with a variety of Field Elm U. minor, is a very rare cultivar said to have originated at the D. Dauvesse nursery in Orléans, France before 1877.

<i>Ulmus minor</i> Hoersholmiensis Elm cultivar

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Hoersholmiensis', Hoersholm elm, originated from seed sown at the Hørsholm Planteskole, Denmark, c. 1885, where it was propagated by the nursery proprietor Lars Nielsen. The Späth nursery of Berlin, however, which marketed 'Hoersholmiensis' in the interwar period, considered it a hybrid rather than a form of field elm, a view shared by Christine Buisman, who in 1931 labelled a herbarium specimen from a Späth-sourced tree in The Hague as a form of Ulmus × hollandica.

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Viminalis Marginata', a variegated form of Ulmus minor 'Viminalis', was first listed as Ulmus campestris var. viminalis marginataHort. by Kirchner in 1864. Both Van Houtte and Späth marketed an U. campestris viminalis marginata in the late 19th century.

<i>Ulmus</i> Purpurea Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Purpurea', the purple-leaved elm, was listed and described as Ulmus Stricta Purpurea, the 'Upright Purpled-leaved Elm', by John Frederick Wood, F.H.S., in The Midland Florist and Suburban Horticulturist (1851), as Ulmus purpureaHort. by Wesmael (1863), and as Ulmus campestris var. purpurea, syn. Ulmus purpureaHort. by Petzold and Kirchner in Arboretum Muscaviense (1864). Koch's description followed (1872), the various descriptions appearing to tally. Henry (1913) noted that the Ulmus campestris var. purpureaPetz. & Kirchn. grown at Kew as U. montana var. purpurea was "probably of hybrid origin", Ulmus montana being used at the time both for wych elm cultivars and for some of the U. × hollandica group. His description of Kew's U. montana var. purpurea matches that of the commonly-planted 'Purpurea' of the 20th century. His discussion of it (1913) under U. campestris, however, his name for English Elm, may be the reason why 'Purpurea' is sometimes erroneously called U. procera 'Purpurea' (as in USA and Sweden.

<i>Ulmus</i> Crispa Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Crispa' [:'curled', the leaf margin], sometimes known as the Fernleaf Elm, arose before 1800 and was first listed by Willdenow as U. crispa (1809). Audibert listed an U. campestrisLinn. 'Crispa', orme à feuilles crépues [:'frizzy-leaved elm'], in 1817, and an Ulmus urticaefolia [:'nettle-leaved elm'] in 1832; the latter is usually taken to be a synonym. Loudon considered the tree a variety of U. montana (1838). In the 19th century, Ulmus × hollandica cultivars, as well as those of Wych Elm, were often grouped under Ulmus montana. Elwes and Henry (1913) listed 'Crispa' as a form of wych elm, but made no mention of the non-wych samara.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Serpentina Elm cultivar

The putative hybrid cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Serpentina' is an elm of unknown provenance and doubtful status. Henry identified it as intermediate between U. glabra and U. minor, a view accepted by Bean and by Melville, who believed that the specimens at Kew bearing the name 'Serpentina' were U. glabra "introgressed by U. carpinifolia" [: U. minor] and were similar to but "distinct from 'Camperdownii'".

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Monstrosa' [: "monstrous", "strange"], a shrub-elm with fasciated branching, is believed to have originated in France, where it was first listed by Lavallée in Arboretum Segrezianum (1877) as a form of Field Elm, Ulmus campestris var. monstrosa, but without description. Though its long slender 2 cm petiole is not a feature of wych elm U. glabraHuds., and is even less likely in a shrub form of this species, the wych-cultivar error arose early, perhaps because the Späth nursery of Berlin, using Ulmus montana both for some Ulmus × hollandica cultivars and for wych varieties, listed it c.1890 as Ulmus montana monstrosa. Hartwig in Illustrirtes Gehölzbuch (1892) followed with Ulmus scabra monstrosa, an error repeated by Krüssman (1962) and by Green (1964), with their U. glabraHuds. 'Monstrosa'.

<i>Ulmus</i> Berardii Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Berardii', Berard's Elm, was raised in 1865, as Ulmus Berardi, from seeds collected from large specimens of "common elm" growing on the ramparts at Metz, by an employee of the Simon-Louis nursery named Bérard. Carrière (1887), the Späth nursery of Berlin and the Van Houtte nursery of Gentbrugge regarded it as form of a Field Elm, listing it as U. campestris Berardii, the name used by Henry. Cheal's nursery of Crawley distributed it as Ulmus nitens [:Ulmus minor] 'Berardii'. Smith's of Worcester preferred the original, non-specific name, Ulmus 'Berardii'.

<i>Ulmus</i> Australis Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Australis' [:'southern'], reputedly endemic to south-eastern France, Switzerland and Italy, is a little-known tree considered by various authorities to have been a variety of Ulmus minor or Ulmus × hollandica.

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Rugosa' [:'wrinkled', the leaves], was first listed in Audibert's Tonelle (1817), as "U. campestris Linn. 'Rugosa' = orme d'Avignon [Avignon elm] ", but without description. A description followed in the Revue horticole, 1829. Green (1964) identified this cultivar with one listed by Hartwig and Rümpler in Illustrirtes Gehölzbuch (1875) as Ulmus montana var. rugosaHort.. A cultivar of the same name appeared in Loddiges' catalogue of 1836 and was identified by Loudon in Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum (1838) as Ulmus montana var. rugosaMasters, Masters naming the tree maple-bark elm. Ulmus montana was used at the time both for wych cultivars and for some cultivars of the Ulmus × hollandica group.

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Klemmer Elm cultivar

Ulmus × hollandica 'Klemmer', or Flanders Elm, is probably one of a number of hybrids arising from the crossing of Wych Elm with a variety of Field Elm, making it a variety of Ulmus × hollandica. Originating in the Bruges area, it was described by Gillekens in 1891 as l'orme champêtre des Flandres in a paper which noted its local name, klemmer, and its rapid growth in an 1878–91 trial. Kew, Henry (1913), and Krüssmann (1976) listed it as an Ulmus × hollandica cultivar, though Henry noted its "similarity in some respects" to field elm Ulmus minor, while Green went as far as to regard it as "possibly U. carpinifolia" (:minor).

<i>Ulmus</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Superba Elm cultivar

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Superba' is one of a number of intermediate forms arising from the crossing of the Wych Elm U. glabra with a variety of Field Elm U. minor. Boulger tentatively (1881) and Green more confidently (1964) equated it with a hybrid elm cultivated in the UK by Masters at Canterbury in the early 19th century, known as "Masters' Canterbury Seedling" or simply the Canterbury Elm. Loudon examined a specimen sent by Masters and considered it a hybrid, calling it U. montana glabra major.

The hybrid elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Dumont' was a very vigorous elm raised from a tree discovered by a gardener on the estate of M. Dumont at Tournay, Belgium, c. 1865.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Pinnato-ramosa Elm cultivar

The Siberian elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Pinnato-ramosa' was raised by Georg Dieck, as Ulmus pinnato-ramosa, at the National Arboretum, Zöschen, Germany, from seed collected for him circa 1890 in the Ili valley, Turkestan by the lawyer and amateur naturalist Vladislav E. Niedzwiecki while in exile there. Litvinov (1908) treated it as a variety of Siberian elm, U. pumilavar.arborea but this taxon was ultimately rejected by Green, who sank the tree as a cultivar: "in modern terms, it does not warrant recognition at this rank but is a variant of U. pumila maintained and known only in cultivation, and therefore best treated as a cultivar". Herbarium specimens confirm that trees in cultivation in the 20th century as U. pumilaL. var. arboreaLitv. were no different from 'Pinnato-ramosa'.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Poort Bulten Elm cultivar

Ulmus pumila, or 'Poort Bulten,' is a Siberian elm cultivar that hails from Arboretum Poort Bulten in Losser, Netherlands. This tree was for many years mistaken for Planera aquatica or 'water elm' and commercially propagated under that name.

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Turkestanica' was first described by Regel as U. turkestanica in Dieck, Hauptcat. Baumschul. Zöschen (1883) and in Gartenflora (1884). Regel himself stressed that "U. turkestanica was only a preliminary name given by me; I regard this as a form of U. suberosa" [:U. minor ]. Litvinov considered U. turkestanicaRegel a variety of his U. densa, adding that its fruits were "like those of U. foliaceaGilibert" [:U. minor].

References

  1. 1 2 Hilliers' Manual of Trees & Shrubs. (1977). David & Charles, Newton Abbot, UK.
  2. Hillier & Sons, Cat. 38T, p.52, 1928 (Winchester)
  3. Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 24 (6–8): 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  4. Terrier, C. (1944). "La maladie des ormeaux" (PDF). Bulletin de la Murithienne. 62: 71–84. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  5. 1 2 Weaver, Sidney (1940). "Correspondence". Gardeners' Chronicle. 108: 44. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  6. 1 2 Krüssmann, Gerd (1986). Manual of cultivated broad-leaved trees & shrubs. Vol. 3. p. 410.
  7. 1 2 3 "Herbarium specimen - L.1587100". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Sheet described as Ulmus hillieri, Arboretum national des Barres specimen, Nogent-sur-Vernisson (1931)
  8. Rafaël Govaerts, Kris Michielsen and Eike Jablonski, 'Untraced weeping broadleaf cultivars: an overview', dendrology.lu
  9. Plant Inventory No. 162. 213985
  10. Kew Plants of the World Online: ' Ulmus × hollandica Mill. Images'; Kew herbarium specimen of Ulmus × hollandica Mill. cv. 'Hillieri': Image 4 of 52; ID:1128161; powo.science.kew.org
  11. Correspondence from Hillier Nurseries Limited, October 2018.
  12. Correspondence from Holland, October 2018.
  13. Lønbæk Planteskole, Holstebro, Denmark; loenbaek.dk
  14. Arboretum Volčji Potok, tree photo
  15. Arboretum Volčji Potok, leaves photo