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Spec. Char., S/c- Leaves doubly serrated, rough. Flowers nearly sessile, 4-clel’t.
Samara oblong, deeply cloven, glabrous. (Smith.) A large deciduous tree.
England, France, and the warmer parts of Europe. Height 60 ft. to 80 ft.
Flowers L”ownish ; March and April. Samara yellow ; ripe in May.
Varieties.
A. Timber Trees.
¥ U. c. 1 vidgàrìs. U. campéstris H o rt.D u r.— Very twiggy; pale
smooth bark ; of irregular growth in some plants, with almost horizontal
branches, where no others are near to force the shoots upwards.
In some soils, it is very subject to decay at the joints. The
bark is leaden-coloured while young, splitting into long thin strips
with age. A bad variety to cultivate for timber.
¥ U. c. 2 latifòlia Hort. — Leaves broader than in the species, and expanding
very eaidy in spring.
¥ U. c. 3 alba Masters.— Of upright growth. The old bark cracks in
irregular long pieces, and becomes very pale with age. Shoots with
the bark tinged with red, and the footstalks of the leaves quite red.
Leaves shining, and doubly and deeply serrated, bearing a very near
resemblance to those of Ü. effusa. A valuable timber tree.
¥ U. c. 4 acutifòlia Masters. — Growth, during its early stages, very like
the last, but stronger. The leaves, in old specimens, more tapering,
and the branches more pendulous. Bark like the last. This appears
very common in some [lai’ts of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. Also a
good timber tree.
¥ U. c. 5 stricta Hort. Dur. Red English Elm. — One of the most
valuable timber trees of the small-leaved kinds. Growth very rigid.
The timber is excellent ; and the tree forms poles of equal diameter
tliroughout.
¥ U. c. 6 virens Hort. Dur. Kidbrook Elm.— Almost evergreen in a
mild winter ; and, as such, is the most ornamental tree ofthe genus.
It must not, however, be depended upon as a timber tree, because,
in some autumns, the frost kills the shoots. The bark is red, and
the tree of spreading habit. This, like the last-mentioned kind,
grows well upon chalk.
¥ U.c. 1 cornubiénsis Wort. U. sixicta Lindl. Synop.]).227., Lodd. Cat.
ed. 1836; the Cornish Elm.— An upright-branched tree ; the trunk
and branches, when young, having a somewhat flexuose appearance,
which disappe^s as it grows old. The leaves are small, strongly
veined, and coriaceous. Branches bright brown, smooth when young,
and very compact. This variety, in the climate of London, is a
week or fortnight later in coming into leaf than the common elm,
from which, and from all the other varieties, it is readily distinguished
by the bark of old trees, which never scales off, but tears
as under, exhibiting it.s fibrous construction, in the manner of the
bark of the sweet chestnut. There are many fine trees of this variety
in Kensington Gardens.
¥ U.c. 8 sarniénsis. U. Baxmenaia Lodd. Cat. 1836; the Jersey Elm._
A free-growing variety, differing very little from the species.
¥ U. c. 9 tortuósa. U. tortuósa Lodd. Cat. 1836; ? Orme tortillard,
Fr. ; the twisted Elm.—The wood of the tortuous parts of the trunk
is valuable for the naves of wheels, and is much used for that
purpose in France. It is the only elm which grows freely by cuttings,
and is generally so propagated in the French nurseries. See
Arb. Bnt., 1st edit., p. 1379.
B. Ornamental or curious Trees.
¥ U.c. \9 fòiiis variegàtis Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836. — This variety, which
called the silver-leaved elm, has the leaves striped with white,
1392. C. c. parvifòlia.
and, in spring, is very ornamental.
T U. c. 11 betukefolia. U. ¿etulæfolia Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836.— Leaves
somewhat resembling tho.se of the common birch.
¥ U.c. 12 viminàlis Hort. Dur. p. 6 6 . U. viminàlis Lodd. Cat. ed.
1836. (The plate in Arb. Bât., 1st edit., vol. vii.) — Small leaves,
and numerous slender twig-like branches. It is a very distinct and
elegant variety ; and easily recognised, either in summer or winter.
Raised, in 1817, by Mr. Masters.
¥ U. c. 13 parvifòlia. U. parvifòlia Jac. Pl.
Rar. Hort. Sckoenbr. iii. p. 261. t. 262.; U.
microphylla Pers. ; U. pùmila var. ß (transbaï-
calénsis) Pall.Ross. i. p. 76. t. 48.; U.pùmila ,
Willd.Sp.Pl. i.p. 1326.; U. p. fôliis pàrvis, &c.
Pluie. A im.'p. 293.; U. hùmilis Stirp.
Ruth. p. 180. No. 260. (Oury?g. 1392.)— .
A tree, according to Pallas, who mentions
several varieties of it, very common in all
the woods ofthe South of Russia, and var}-
ing in height from that of a middle-sized tree
to that of a diminutive shrnh, according to
the soil and climate in which it grows.
¥ Ü. c. 14 planifòlia. U. planifòlia/Tori. (The
plate of this tree in Arb. Brit., 1st edit.,
vol. vii.) — A handsome small tree, closely
resembling the preceding variety.
¥ U. c. 15 chinénsis. U. chinénsis Pers. i. p. 291. No. 9., Rcem. et Schult.
Syst. Veg. vi. p. 303. ; Thé de l'Abbé Gallois, Orme nain, Fr. ;
(O lir ß g . 1393.) — A low bu.sh, introduced from
China, but when is uncertain. Rather tender.
Horticultural Society’s Garden.
¥ U. c. 16 cucullàta Hort. — Leaves curiously curved,
something like a hood. Hort. Soc. Garden.
¥ U. c. 17 concavoefôüa Hort. — Resembles the preceding
kind. Hort. Soc. Garden.
Ï U. c. 18 ßliis aúreis Hort.—Leaves variegated with
yellow.
¥ U. c. 19 nàna. Hort.—A very distinct variety, said not
to grow above 2 ft. high in ten or twelve years. Hort,
Society’s Garden.
Other Varieties. In Messrs. Loddiges’s Catalogue, ed. 1836,
D.c.fòliismacnlàtis, \].dùhia,Xd. viscósa, and some others, are ^ ^
enumerated, and in our first edition twelve French varieties 1393. u.c.chinénbis.
are described, to which might be added, the Orme peiiuncule
of the French, which appears to be our C/'lmus eff usa, though we have doubts
on this subject.
The common English elm is, perhaps, more frequently to be found in the
parks and pleasure-grounds ofthe English nobility and gentry, than any other
tree, except the oak. It is of a tall upright habit of growth, with a sU-aight
trunk, 4 or 5 feet in diameter when fully grown, and attaining the height ot
60 or 70 feet or upwards. The wood loses a great deal in drying ; weighing,
when green, nearly 701b. the cubic foot; and, when dry, not more than
48i lb. It is of a brownish colour, ancl is hard and fine-grained. It possesses
greater lateral adhesion, and less longitudinal toughness, than that ot U.
montàna, and, consequently, does not crack so much as that sort in drying.
In ship-biiilding it is valuable for forming the blocks and dead eyes, and other
wooden furniture of rigging, being particularly suitable for these purposes,
from its hard and adhesive nature, and indisposition to crack or split when
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