Ulmus 'Androssowii'

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Ulmus 'Androssowii'
Gorskii 21898u.jpg
Karagach [:black tree, = elm], Samarkand
Genus Ulmus
Cultivar 'Androssowii'
OriginUzbekistan

The hybrid cultivar Ulmus 'Androssowii'R. Kam. (or 'Androsowii' [1] ), an elm of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan [2] sometimes referred to in old travel books as 'Turkestan Elm' or as 'karagach' [:black tree, = elm], its local name, [3] is probably an artificial hybrid. According to Lozina-Lozinskaia the tree is unknown in the wild in Uzbekistan, [4] [5] and apparently arose from a crossing of U. densa var. bubyriana Litv. (now Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera'), which it resembles (see the disputed species Ulmus densa), and the Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila. [6] It is sometimes listed as Ulmus × androssowii. [7]

Contents

Not to be confused with the Ulmus 'Turkestanica' distributed by the Späth nursery of Berlin.

For U. 'Karagatch', see 'Hybrid cultivars' below.

For so-called Ulmus androssowii var. subhirsuta C. K. Schneid. and Ulmus androssowii var. virgata (Planch.) Grudz. , see Ulmus chumlia .

Description

Turkestan Elm, c.1910 The Duab of Turkestan fig 71.jpg
Turkestan Elm, c.1910

The tree grows to a height of 20 metres (66 ft) and is distinguished by its very dense spherical crown and pubescent leaves. [8] [9] Rehder noted (1939) that though similar in habit to 'Umbraculifera', 'Androssowi' could be "easily distinguished" by the grayish-brown bark of its twigs with conspicuous corky wings on older branches, by the pubescent winter-buds, by the mostly shallow- and single-toothed leaves, pubescent beneath, and by the near-orbicular fruit 10-13 mm in diameter, with the seed slightly above the middle. In 'Umbraculifera', by contrast, the twigs are red-brown and never corky, the leaves are more clearly and sharply double-toothed, only slightly pubescent beneath when young and soon smooth, and the obovate fruit is wedge-shaped at base and about 1.5 cm long, with the seed close to the notch. [6] The compact branch structure of 'Androssowii' helps the tree conserve moisture. [10]

... In a garden near our sarai we saw some very fine karagach. The karagach or Turkestan elm is one of the typical trees of the Duab landscape, chiefly owing to its tendency of forming leafy balloons of great regularity. As the main limbs shoot upwards like a bunch of flowers gradually unfolding near the top, and as the secondary boughs follow this example, the inner space of the cupola of foliage is a tangle of close-set ramifications which retains dead branches as well as the flotsam and jetsam of the air. As moreover short spikes and twigs grow out everywhere, the whole forms a disorderly nest of bark, leaves, sticks, and straws affording protection to many small birds.

– From Willi Rickmer Rickmers, The Duab of Turkestan, a physiographic sketch and account of some travels (1913). [11]

Pests and diseases

Not known. In 1987, according to a Forestry Commission study of the Dushanbe area, Tajikistan, elms including 'Androssowii' "were plentiful in the city, pastures and roadside plantations, but no symptoms of Dutch elm disease, foliar or internal, were found. Breeding galleries of a Scolytus species close to Scolytus multistriatus were present in stressed or dying trees but no Ophiostoma ulmi was obtained from the galleries." The report concluded that, to date, the region may have escaped Dutch elm disease through geographical isolation. [2]

Cultivation

The hybrid has been widely planted in southern and western areas of the former Soviet Union, [12] notably along the streets of Samarkand. In western Europe it was distributed by Hesse's Nurseries, Weener, Germany, in the 1930s. [13] A specimen was present at Kew Gardens in the 1930s. [14] Cold-hardy, it prefers a rich soil and moderate humidity.

Hybrid cultivars

Ulmus 'Karagatch' is a hybrid cultivar from Turkestan, selected in the early 20th century and said to be either a backcrossing of U. pumila and U. 'Androssowii' or simply a cultivar of 'Androssowi'.

Synonymy

Accessions

North America
Europe

Nurseries

Europe

Related Research Articles

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Species of tree

Ulmus pumila, the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes miscalled the 'Chinese elm'. U. pumila has been widely cultivated throughout Asia, North America, Argentina, and southern Europe, becoming naturalized in many places, notably across much of the United States.

Ulmus bergmannianaC.K.Schneid., commonly known as Bergmann's elm, is a deciduous tree found across much of China in forests at elevations of 1500–3000 m.

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

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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</i> × <i>hollandica</i> Daveyi Elm cultivar

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

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Propendens', described by Schneider in 1904 as U. glabra (:minor) var. suberosa propendens, Weeping Cork-barked elm, was said by Krüssmann (1976) to be synonymous with the U. suberosa pendula listed by Lavallée without description in 1877. Earlier still, Loudon's Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum had included an illustration of a pendulous "cork-barked field elm", U. campestris suberosa. An U. campestris suberosa pendula was in nurseries by the 1870s.

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

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera' [:shade-giving] was originally cultivated in Iran, where it was widely planted as an ornamental and occasionally grew to a great size, being known there as 'Nalband' Persian: نعلبند [:the tree of the farriers]. Litvinov considered it a cultivar of a wild elm with a dense crown that he called U. densa, from the mountains of Turkestan, Ferghana, and Aksu. Non-rounded forms of 'Umbraculifera' are also found in Isfahan Province, Iran. Zielińksi in Flora Iranica considered it an U. minor cultivar.

<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> Koopmannii Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar Ulmus 'Koopmannii' was cloned from a specimen raised from seed sent from Margilan, Turkestan by Koopmann to the Botanischer Garten Berlin c. 1880. Noted in 1881 as a 'new elm', it was later listed by the Späth nursery, catalogue no. 62, p. 6. 101, 1885, as Ulmus Koopmannii, and later by Krüssmann in 1962 as a cultivar of U. minor. Margilan is beyond the main range of Ulmus minor. Augustine Henry, who saw the specimens in Berlin and Kew, believed Koopmann's Elm to be a form of Ulmus pumila, a view not shared by Rehder of the Arbold Arboretum. Ascherson & Graebner said the tree produced 'very numerous root shoots', which suggests it may be a cultivar of U. minor. Until DNA analysis can confirm its origin, the cultivar is now treated as Ulmus 'Koopmannii'.

Ulmus laevis var. celtideaRogow. [: like Celtis, the leaves] is a putative variety of European White Elm first described by Rogowicz, who found the tree in 1856 along the river Dnjepr near Chernihiv in what is now northern Ukraine. The type specimen is held at the National Herbarium of Ukraine. The variety was first named as Ulmus pedunculata var. celtidea. Litvinov (1908) considered it a species, calling it Ulmus celtideaLitv., a view not upheld by other authorities.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Pendula Elm cultivar

The Siberian Elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Pendula' is from northern China, where it is known as Lung chao yü shu. It was classified by Frank Meyer in Fengtai in 1908, and introduced to the United States by him from the Peking Botanical Garden as Weeping Chinese Elm. The USDA plant inventory record (1916) noted that it was a "rare variety even in China". It was confirmed as an U. pumila cultivar by Krüssmann (1962).

<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 minor</i> Umbraculifera Gracilis Elm cultivar

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Umbraculifera Gracilis' was obtained as a sport of 'Umbraculifera' by the Späth nursery of Berlin c.1897. It was marketed by the Späth nursery in the early 20th century, and by the Hesse Nursery of Weener, Germany, in the 1930s.

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Microphylla Pendula', the Weeping small-leaved elm, was first listed by the Travemünde nursery, Lübeck, and described by Kirchner in Petzold & Kirchner's Arboretum Muscaviense (1864), as Ulmus microphylla pendulaHort.. By the 1870s it was being marketed in nurseries in Europe and America as Ulmus campestris var. microphylla pendula.

<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</i> Karagatch Elm cultivar

Ulmus 'Karagatch' is a hybrid cultivar from Turkestan, selected in the early 20th century and considered either a backcrossing of U. × androssowii and U. pumila, or simply a cultivar of × androssowii. It was grown from seeds, introduced from Bairam Ali in Russian Turkestan by Arthur P. Davis in the 1930s, as U. 'Karagatch', under which name it was planted at Kew.

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].

<i>Ulmus</i> Densa Elm cultivar

The elm cultivar UlmusDensa was described from specimens growing near Ashkabad as U. densaLitv. in Schedae ad Herbarium Florae Rossicae (1908). Litvinov, reporting it growing wild in the mountains of Turkestan, Ferghana, and Aksu, as well as in cultivation, considered it a species, a view upheld by the Soviet publications Trees and Shrubs in the USSR (1951) and Flora of Armenia (1962), and by some current plant lists. Other authorities take it to be a form of U minor, distinctive only in its dense crown and upright branching. The Moscow State University herbarium gives (2020) Ulmus minor as the "accepted name" of U. densaLitv..

References

  1. Richens, R. H., Elm (Cambridge 1981), p.279
  2. 1 2 Forestry Commission, Report on Forest Research for the year ended March 1987, Edinburgh 1987; p.45
  3. Rickmers, W. Rickmer, The Duab of Turkestan, a physiographic sketch and account of some travels (Cambridge, 1913), pp.172, 26, 63, 162, 166, 332
  4. Sokolov (1951). Trees & Shrubs in the U.S.S.R (in Russian), 2: 506.
  5. kiki.huh.harvard
  6. 1 2 Rehder, Alfred (1939). "Rehder, new species, varieties and combinations". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 20: 88–89. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  7. Ulmus × androssowiiLitv., Plants of the World Online; powo.science.kew.org
  8. Green, Peter Shaw (1964). "Registration of cultivar names in Ulmus". Arnoldia. 24 (6–8). Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University: 41–80. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  9. "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1846112". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Formerly labelled U. pumila 'Androssowi' (Wageningen Arboretum, 1962); "Herbarium specimen - WAG.1846113". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Formerly labelled U. pumila 'Androssowi' (Wageningen Arboretum, 1962)
  10. World Digital Library, wdl.org/en/item/5747/
  11. Rickmers, W. Rickmer, The Duab of Turkestan, a physiographic sketch and account of some travels (Cambridge, 1913), p.172
  12. Photos of 'Androssowii', yvision.kz (in Russian)
  13. Hesse, Hermann Albert (1932). Preis- und Sortenliste. pp. 96–97. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  14. "Herbarium specimen - L.1582323". Botany catalogues. Naturalis Biodiversity Center.Ulmus, formerly mis-labelled U. angronovii (Kew specimen, 1935)