Ulmus minor 'Virgata'

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Ulmus minor 'Virgata'
Species Ulmus minor
Cultivar 'Virgata'
OriginNangis, Seine et Marne, France

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Virgata' (:'twiggy') was first described, as Ulmus campestris virgata, by Pepin [1] in Revue Horticole (1865) from a stand of some thirty trees beside a monastery at Grand-Puits [2] near Nangis, Seine-et-Marne, said to have been planted by the friars in 1789 and propagated in 1835 by Cochet's nursery at Grisy-Suisnes. [3] [4] Pepin noted that in France 'Virgata' was sometimes confused with another, less vigorous elm cultivated as 'Orme pyramidal' [5] (possibly the Baudriller nursery's 'Pyramidata' Hort. [6] ).

Contents

Not to be confused with Ulmus virgataRoxburgh ( Ulmus parvifolia Jacq.) or Ulmus virgataWallich. ex. Planch. ( Ulmus chumlia Melville & Heybroek).

Description

Pepin described the tree as vigorous, with short, slender, erect branches bestowing a fastigiate form. The oval pointed dark green leaves turn pale yellow in autumn and are retained late. Pepin likened the tree to cypress, Lombardy poplar and fastigiate oak. [3]

Pests and diseases

Though susceptible to Dutch Elm Disease, field elms produce suckers and usually survive in this form in their area of origin.

Cultivation

In addition to the original cultivation by Cochet's of Grisy-Suisnes, Pepin himself, who described and admired the tree, planted lines of it from 1858 and recommended it for avenues. He propagated it by base-grafting. [3]

No specimens are known to survive. In 2022 Brighton and Hove City Council listed an old twiggy elm (felled 2024) in Surrenden Road, Brighton, with up-sweeeping branches, [7] by this name, without provenance information, though 'Virgata' is not known to have been introduced to the UK and though no herbarium specimens are known. [8] [9] Its seed central in the samara, and its short petioles, suggest that the Brighton tree was a form of Ulmus × hollandica .

References

  1. ↑ kiki.huh.harvard.edu
  2. ↑ Histoire de Grandpuits, mairie-grandpuits-bailly-carrois.fr
  3. 1 2 3 Pepin, Pierre Denis (1865). "Ulmus campestris virgata". Revue Horticole: 347–348.
  4. ↑ Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  5. ↑ science.mnhn.fr herbarium specimen P06883092
  6. ↑ Baudriller Établissementd'Horticulture (1880). Catalogue général descriptif et raisonné des arbres fruitiers, forestiers & d'ornement cultivés dans l'établissement. Angers. p. 116.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ Elm opposite 175 Surrenden Rod, Brighton - Google Maps, March 2019, access date: 24 June 2025
  8. ↑ Vivienne Barton, 'Great elms of Brighton and Hove', 2022, bhgreenspaceforum.org
  9. ↑ 'Rare elms in the spotlight for Sussex Tree Festival', 11 June 2025
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