Ulmus americana 'Ascendens'

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Ulmus americana 'Ascendens'
Species Ulmus americana
Cultivar 'Ascendens'
OriginSeneca Park, Rochester, New York

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Ascendens', 'Upright American Elm', was cloned c.1910 by Bernard H. Slavin, Superintendent of Parks, Rochester, New York, from a tree growing in Seneca Park, Rochester, and named in 1927 for its narrow oval form. [1]

Contents

See also the similar cultivars 'Columnaris' and 'Augustine Ascending'. It is not known why such a promising clone as 'Ascendens' appears rare in cultivation, but 'Augustine Ascending' was released at about the same date. Neither Green nor Santamour suggested that they were synonyms. [2] [3]

Description

The tree has small, fastigiate lateral branches forming a narrow, oval head. [2] [4] Its leaves are similar in shape and texture to those of the parent species, but slightly smaller. Arnold Arboretum, however, report leaves 3 to 6 in. long and 2 to 4 in. wide. [5] The bark remains smooth for longer than usual in the species and its fissures are less deep, while the trunk lacks the marked buttressing of the species. [1]

Pests and diseases

The clone's resistance to Dutch Elm Disease is not known, but the species 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 , [6] and highly preferred for feeding by the Japanese Beetle Popillia japonica [7] [8] in the United States. U. americana is also the most susceptible of all the elms to verticillium wilt. [9]

Cultivation

In an article on the cultivar, Trees Magazine (Sept.-Oct. 1941), observing of American elm that there were "too many city streets where sidewalks are upheaved by its heavily buttressed trunk, lawns impaired by its massed tops, and roofs overhung by upper branches brushing the gables of homes," described 'Ascendens' as, by contrast, "an ideal variety for the narrow streets of our cities and for small-area planting". [1] The tree was much planted in the Rochester area. It was described as hardy and less prone to wind-damage than broader forms. [1] The tree is not known to have been cultivated beyond the US.

Accessions

North America

Arnold Arboretum, US. Acc. no. 140-61.

Related Research Articles

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Augustine Elm cultivar

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Augustine', originally called 'Augustine Ascending', was cloned by Archie M. Augustine of the Augustine Nursery of Bloomington, Illinois, from a nursery seedling planted in 1927 in Normal, Illinois, and found to be columnar in habit.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Independence' was raised by Eugene B. Smalley and Donald T. Lester at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from a crossing of the American Elm cultivar Moline and American Elm clone W-185-21, to become one of the six clones forming the American Liberty series, and the only one to be patented.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Exhibition' is a selection made by the Patmore Nurseries from seeds of a tree at Brandon, Manitoba. Released in 1952, 'Exhibition' was propagated by grafting.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Washington', of unknown derivation, was sourced from Princeton Nurseries, Princeton, New Jersey, from 1985, and planted on the National Mall, Washington D.C. It was then selected by H. V. Wester of the U. S. National Park Service and introduced for trials as NPS 3-178. Santamour pointed out that as the historic Washington Elm had been propagated as 'Washington', NPS 3-178, if ever registered as a cultivar, would need a different cultivar name.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Patmore' was selected and raised by R. H. Patmore from a native tree in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. It may be synonymous with another cultivar from the same source, known as 'Brandon'.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Lake City' is a semi-fastigiate form cloned in the early 1920s from a ten-year old seedling found growing outside the Lutheran parsonage, Lake City, Minnesota, and released by the Lake City Nurseries there in 1931. The Nurseries published a nine-page booklet on it in 1932, 'The Lake City Elm', with full description, a photograph of the original tree, and commendatory letters. It was later described by Wyman in Trees Magazine 3 (4): 13, 1940.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Littleford' was cloned from a tree in Hinsdale, Illinois, circa 1915 by Littleford Nurseries of Downers Grove, Illinois, 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".

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Beebe's Weeping' was propagated from a tree growing in the wild at Galena, Illinois, by Mr. E. Beebe in the mid-19th century. Thomas Meehan, who had received cuttings and called it 'Weeping Slippery Elm' before the flowers revealed that it was not Ulmus fulva, suggested the name 'Beebe's Weeping Elm', as there were already U. americana clones called 'Pendula'. In the early 20th century it was marketed, however, as Ulmus 'American Galena Weeping', "American Weeping Elm", by the Klehm nursery of Arlington Heights, Illinois.

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Aurea Elm cultivar

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Aurea' was cloned from a tree discovered by F. L. Temple in Vermont at the end of the 19th century.

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Beaverlodge Elm cultivar

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Beaverlodge' was selected as a seedling in 1925 at the Beaverlodge Experimental Farm, Morden, Manitoba, part of the Lacombe Research Centre, Alberta, for its hardiness and vigour, and released in 1954.

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Columnaris Elm cultivar

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Columnaris' was propagated by R. E. Horsey of the Rochester N.Y. Parks Department from a tree found by Mr John Dunbar at Conesus Lake, New York, in 1911, and originally described as a forma, Ulmus americana L. f. columnaris, f. nov.Rehder (1922). It was the earliest of a number of compact, columnar American elm cultivars, to be followed by 'Ascendens' and 'Augustine Ascendening'.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Fiorei' was raised by the Charles Fiore Nurseries, Prairie View, Illinois, before 1949, and first listed as 'Fiorii', Fiore Elm, without description. It is no longer listed by the company.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Kimley' was cloned c.1957 by the Sheridan Nurseries, Mississauga, Canada, from a large tree found near Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Morden' was cloned from a selection made by the Dominion Experimental Farm, Morden, Manitoba, in 1939 on account of its ability to withstand severe ice storms without breakage.

<i>Ulmus americana</i> Burgoyne Elm cultivar

The American elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Burgoyne' stood at the Arnold Arboretum until removed in 1988. Grown for the town of Weston, Massachusetts, the tree was raised in 1965 by Dr. Donald Wyman, retired head horticulturist of Arnold Arboretum, from seeds of the historic Burgoyne Elm, that stood for c.300 years at 626 Boston Post Road, Weston, before being felled in 1967 In October 1777 a contingent of British prisoners-of-war from General Burgoyne's defeated army, captured by General Gates, bivouacked under the original tree, then nearly a century old, on their way to prison in Somerville.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Iowa State' was cloned in the 1980s from a tree discovered by Professor Alexander (Sandy) McNabb of Iowa State University as the sole survivor in 40 acres (16 ha) of diseased elm at Burlington.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'L'Assomption' was selected from seedlings grown from X-irradiated seed at the eponymous experimental station in Quebec before 1965.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Jackson' was cloned c.1990 from an elm selected at Wichita, Kansas, which had reputedly shewn no signs of Dutch elm disease damage at over 50 years of age.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Flick's Spreader' was cloned from a tree discovered by John T. Flick on a farm near Hammon, Oklahoma. Cuttings were given to the Sunshine Nursery, Clinton, Oklahoma, in 1997, which later marketed the tree as 'Flick's Spreader'.

The American Elm cultivar Ulmus americana 'Creole Queen' was cloned from a tree growing outside New Orleans and was released in 2008.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Malcolm A. Milne & Jacob Gerling, 'Improved elm is upright form', Trees Magazine, September-October 1941, Vol.4, No.5, p.9; Santa Monica, California
  2. 1 2 Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. 24 (6–8): 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Santamour, Frank S.; Bentz, Susan E. (May 1995). "Updated Checklist of Elm (Ulmus) Cultivars for use in North America". Journal of Arboriculture. 21 (3): 122–131. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Cover photograph of an avenue of 30 year-old 'Ascendens', Rochester, N. Y., Trees Magazine, September-October 1941, vol.4, No.5; Santa Monica, California
  5. ↑ Measurements and photographs sent from Arnold Arboretum, October-November 2022.
  6. ↑ Miller, Fredric; Ware, George (2001-02-01). "Resistance of Temperate Chinese Elms (Ulmus spp.) to Feeding by the Adult Elm Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)". Journal of Economic Entomology. Oxford University Press (OUP). 94 (1): 162–166. doi:10.1603/0022-0493-94.1.162. ISSN   0022-0493. PMID   11233108.
  7. ↑ Miller, Fredric; Ware, George; Jackson, Jennifer (2001-04-01). "Preference of Temperate Chinese Elms ( Ulmus spp.) for the Adult Japanese Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)". Journal of Economic Entomology. Oxford University Press (OUP). 94 (2): 445–448. doi:10.1603/0022-0493-94.2.445. ISSN   0022-0493. PMID   11332837.
  8. ↑ "Elm Leaf Beetle Survey". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Pegg, G. F. & Brady, B. L. (2002). Verticillium Wilts. CABI Publishing. ISBN   0-85199-529-2
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