118 ULMUS. 



no doubt, from the difference of habit, form, and other 

 peculiarities that it exhibits, as contrasted with the U. 

 campestris described in the preceding pages, still we deem 

 ourselves justified in withholding unqualified assent to this 

 opinion, knowing the sportive nature of the seed of the 

 Elm, and the varieties it is apt to produce, and are rather 

 inclined to favour the opinion now entertained by many, 

 that this tree is only one of the protean forms of the 

 U. campestris, and from which it may be supposed it 

 originally sprang. But however the fact may be, whether 

 it actually represents a species, or is only a variety, is 

 a circumstance that can only interest the botanist, and 

 is of little or no consequence to the cultivator; we shall 

 therefore leave our readers to determine with themselves 

 the rank they choose to assign it. 



Before proceeding with other matters connected with 

 its culture, it may not be out of place to advert to the 

 points of resemblance and difference, as contrasted with 

 the U. canipestris ; and first in respect to its points of 

 resemblance, we find that it possesses two essential quali- 

 ties, common also to the U. canipestris, viz., the free pro- 

 duction of suckers from the roots, and the generally imper- 

 fect ripening of its seed, though flowers are produced in as 

 great profusion as by U. campestris. The saplings also, 

 for a few years, have the aspiring growth of U. campestris, 

 though afterwards their developement is altered. The 

 branches are always suberous, except upon the last year 1 * 

 wood, those of U. campestris frequently but not always so. 

 From the U. campestris it differs in being two or three 

 weeks later in coming into leaf, and its foliage is much 

 larger. Instead of the upright, lofty, and compact form, 

 with the continuous central stem of the U. campestris, it 

 spreads like the U. montana into a few large diverging 



