Ulmus 19^9 



XV. by Abb6 Gallois, who supposed it to be the tea-plant, and for a long time it 

 was known as " thd de I'Abbd Gallois." 



It appears to have been introduced into England by Mr. James Main^ in 1794, 

 who brought home some plants from China, which were cultivated in a garden at 

 Hackney. It is, however, very rare in cultivation, though it seems to be perfectly 

 hardy, and is very ornamental, retaining its foliage in England usually till late in 

 December or early in January. A tree^ at Kew, about 35 ft. high and 3 ft. in girth, 

 died in 191 2; it used to produce flowers occasionally in November, but never set 

 fruit. Another at Beauport, Sussex, grafted on the common elm, was 40 ft. by 3 ft. 

 8 in. in 191 1. There is also a tree at Enys, in Cornwall, about 20 ft. high. 



At Verrieres,^ near Paris, its growth is rapid, a specimen only twelve years old 

 being 25 ft. in height in 1906. This produces flowers and fruit, but the latter is 

 usually destroyed by frost. There are also good specimens at Segrez and 

 Grignon. A fine tree in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, about 45 ft. high and 

 3^ ft. in girth, was just about to open its flowers on 5th September 1902. This tree 

 is remarkable for its large leaves, up to 3 in. long and i^ in. wide ; and possibly 

 constitutes a distinct variety, which I have not been able to match exactly with any 

 native specimens in herbaria. The finest specimen in Italy is probably one on 

 Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore, which produces good fruit, and measured in 1909 

 about 40 ft. by 2^ ft. 



The largest and finest specimen in the United States is growing in Central 

 Park, New York, near the 72nd Street entrance from Fifth Avenue. It was intro- 

 duced in 1865 by Thomas Hogg.* (A. H.) 



' Main was sent as a collector to China in 1 791- 1794 by Mr. Gilbert Slater of Low Layton, Essex, noted for its extensive 

 gardens and rare plants. Bretschneider, Hist. Europ. Bot. Disc. China, 214 (1898), refers to Slater's introductions; but 

 omits all mention of Main. The latter gives an interesting account of his voyage in The Horticultural Register, v. 62 

 (1836). 



2 The tree at Kew was figured under the erroneous name of U. puvdla in The Garden, February 20, 1904, p. 133. This, 

 tree suffered from the disease known as "slime-flux," the trunk exuding a sweet sap, which attracted a large number 

 of wasps during the summer and autumn of 191 1. Mr. Bean in Nature, vol. Ixxxvii. p. 516 (191 1), states that this affection is 

 probably due to a yeast, which finds its way to the cambium layer, by means of a wound, and there sets up decomposition of 

 the cells, forming sugary products, which exude from the trunk in solution, and partly ferment into alcohol. Cf. also Gard. 

 Chron. 1. 323 (191 1). Fraser, in Gard. Chron. xlix. 59 (191 1), also alludes to exudation of sap from elm trees, which may 

 continue for many years, causing the bark to become perfectly white, owing to the death of the green alga, which usually 

 lives upon it. 



3 Hort. Vilmorin. 52 (1906). 



* Garden and Forest, i. 231, 312(1888). 



