1898 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



U. campestris, from French nurseries at Orleans, Ussy, and elsewhere, are raised 

 from the seed^ of U. nitens. This importation has continued probably without 

 interruption from the time of Evelyn, who refers' to the French elm as having 

 "glabrous and smooth" leaves, and mentions in 1664 "a cloyster of the right 

 French elm in the little garden near to her Majesties the Queen Mothers Chapel at 

 Somerset-house, which were (I suppose) planted there by the industry of the F.F. 

 Capuchines." In all probability many of the glabrous elms that are now growing in 

 parks and pleasure grounds in England and Scotland are of French origin. 



In England, U. nitens is limited to the southern, midland, and eastern counties. 

 Throughout the east of England, where it is much commoner than U. montana, it is 

 usually known, when of wide-spreading habit, as the wych elm. U. nitens is unknown, 

 except as a planted tree, in Scotland ; but it is probably wild in the south of Ireland, 

 where it is frequent in hedge-rows ; and at Abbeyleix, var. stricta is scattered amidst 

 oaks on the alluvial flat of the river Nore. Cf. p. 1889. 



Many elms may be found in the south and west of England, which differ 

 somewhat in foliage and habit, both from typical U. nitens, and its well-marked 

 varieties, described above. It seems unnecessary to describe these in detail or to 

 give them special names. In several cases, in which I sowed seeds of trees, 

 slightly abnormal in foliage and habit, the seedlings produced are not uniform, 

 and show the characters of opposite and alternate leaves in the first year in Mendelian 

 proportions ; and are presumably of hybrid origin. Some of these elms have leaves 

 thicker in texture, larger in size, often longer with more numerous nerves ; whilst 

 others show peculiar serrations, less obliquity at the base, etc. A tree at Coles- 

 borne, from which numerous seedlings were raised in 1909, is a typical instance 

 of this class of elm.^ (A. H.). 



Remarkable Trees 



Among the most remarkable trees of this species is an elm (Plate 399) at 

 Sharpham, near Totnes, the seat of O. Durant Parker, Esq., which was figured 

 as a wych elm in Gard. Chron. xxxix. 152 (1906). I found this tree to be a 

 glabrous-leaved elm of unusual habit, with immense branches spreading to a dis- 

 tance on one side of 104 ft., and covering a total area of a quarter acre. Its height 

 when I saw it in 1906 was 80 to 90 ft., and its girth 17 ft. The lateral branches 

 were covered with small spray and ferns, which are favoured by the damp climate. 



In Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, there is an old and decayed glabrous-leaved 

 elm, which in 1906 measured 19^ ft. in girth, but was throwing out much young 

 spray on the live branches. 



From West Dean, in Sussex, Mr. F. Arthur sent me specimens of this elm, 

 which is there known as wych elm ; its timber sells locally for is. per foot. 



At Godinton, Kent, a fine tree which has the habit of the weeping Hertford- 

 shire elm, measured in 1907 about loo ft. by 12 ft. 



1 M. de Vilmorin informs me that the seeds of this elm, which are sold by him as " U. campestris," are usually 

 gathered in the neighbourhood of Soissons (Aisne) and Le Mans (Sarthe). 



2 Sylva, 19 (1664). 3 Referred to xajoum, Linn. Soc. (Bot.) xxxix. 294 (1910). 



