CHAP. Cl. ULMA‘CE. U’LMUS. 1375 
Synonymes. U’lmus Atinia Pliny Nat. Hist., lib. 16. cap. 17., and lib. 17. cap. 11., Cam. Epit., 70., 
deta en eo d, Hall, Hist., 2. 269.; U. minor, folio angusto scabro, Ger. Emac., 1480. f., 
erces” Engl. Bot., t. 1886.; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 42.; Dod. Pempt., 837. f.; Ger. Emac., 1480. ; 
Hayne, t. 27.; Michx. North Amer. Sylva, iii. t. 129. f.1.; and the plates in our last Volume. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves doubly serrated, rough. Flowers nearly sessile, 4- 
cleft. Samara oblong, deeply cloven, glabrous. (Smith Eng. Flora.) A 
tree from 60 ft. to 80ft. in height; flowering in March and April, and 
ripening its seeds in May. 
Varieties. These are very numerous, both in Britain and on the Continent ; and 
most of them have been selected by nurserymen from their seed-beds. Any 
one, Baudrillart remarks, who has ever observed a bed of seedling elms, must 
have noticed that some have large leaves, and some small ones; some are 
early, and some late; some have smooth bark, and some rough bark; and 
some soft leaves, and others very rough ones. Some varieties are higher than 
others; the branches take now a vertical, and again a horizontal, direction. 
In short, while botanists describe, and cultivators sow, they will find that na- 
ture sports with their labours, and seems to delight in setting at fault alike the 
science of the one, and the hopes of the other. This is always the case with 
plants that have been long submitted to the cultivation of man. The cares 
that are bestowed upon them, the different situations in which they are placed, 
and the different kinds of treatment which they receive, appear to change 
their native habits. (See Dict. des Eaut et Foréts, ii. p. 460.) The quan- 
tity of the timber of the several varieties differs as much as the size of the 
leaves and the habit of growth. In some varieties, such as U. c. vimi- 
nalis, it is of no value, from the slenderness of the trunk; in others, the tree 
is subject to decay at the joints of the branches, the bark to split into long 
thin strips, and the interior of the trunk torot. The most valuable varieties 
for cultivation as timber trees are, U.c. stricta, U. c.acutifolia, U. c. alba, and 
U.c. latifolia. We shall first give the names of the principal varieties of the 
common English elm which are to be found in British nurseries; and, 
next, the names of those which are said to be cultivated in France. We might 
have doubled the number of these varieties; and we should have felt justi- 
fied in including among them U, suberdsa, and perhaps some other kinds 
which we have treated as species; for there is, in truth, no certainty as 
to what are species and what varieties in elms. 
A. Timber Trees. 
¥ U.c.1l vulgaris, U. campéstris Hort. Dur.— 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 /atifolia Hort. has broader leaves than the species, and ex- 
pands them very early in spring. There is a tree of this variety in 
the London Horticultural Society’s Garden, which, in 1824, after 
being 10 years planted, was 17 ft. high. 
* 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 U. effiisa. A valuable timber tree. 
¥ U.'c. 4 acutifolia Masters. — Growth, during its early stages, very like the 
last, but stronger. The leaves, in old specimens, more tapering, and 
the branches more pendulous. The young leaves do not justify its 
name. Bark like the last. This appears very common in some 
parts of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. Also a good timber tree. 
¥ U. c. 5 stricta Hort. Dur. Red English Elm. — One of the most valu- 
able timber trees of the small-leayed kinds. Growth very rigid. 
4 x 
