CHAP. CI. f/LMA CE^:. L^'LMUS. 1375 



Si/nonymes. Z7'Imus ^tinia Plini/ Nat. Hist., lib. 16. cap. 17., and lib. 17. cap. 11., Catn. Epil., 70., 

 U., No. 1586. i, Hall. Hist., 2. 269. ; U. minor, folio angusto scabro, Gcr. Emac, 1480. J'., 

 Rait Syn., 469. 



Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 1886. ; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 42. ; Dod. Penipt., a37. f. ; Gcr. Emac, 1480. ; 

 Ha)Tie, t. 27.; Michx. North Amer. Sjlva, iii. t. 129. f. 1. ; and the plates in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves doubly serrated, rough. Flowers nearly sessile, 4- 

 cleft. Samara oblong, deeply cloven, glabrous. (Smith Eng. Flora.) A 

 tree from 60 ft. to 80 ft. 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 selectctl by nurserymen from their seed-beds. Any 

 one, BaudriMart 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 ciiange 

 their native habits. (See Diet, des Eaiuv et Forets, ii. p. 4G0.) 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 stri[)s, and the interior of the trunk to rot. 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. suberosa, 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. 



¥ \].c.\ vulgaris, U.caxa\>cs,tv\sHort. 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. 



jt U. c. 2 latifolia 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 JO years planted, was 17 ft. high. 



1? U. c. 3 ulba 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. 



5f U. f . 4 aciitifolin 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 connnon in some 

 parts of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. Also a good timber tree. 



i U. c. 5 stricta Hort. Dur. Red English Elm. — One of the most valu- 

 able timber trees of the small-leavetl kindfc. Growth very rigid. 

 4x 



