THE ELM. 



109 



shire, and several other counties, have rarely any 

 growing in many miles together. In the mean- 

 time, some affirm they were first brought out of 

 Lombardy, where indeed I have observed very 

 goodly trees about the rich grounds, with Pines 

 among them." Dr. Hunter, however, Evelyn's 

 editor, is of opinion that the Elm is certainly a 

 native of this country and he has much reason 

 on his side, for the Atinian Elm, which is uni- 

 versally considered to be the same with our com- 

 mon Elm, did not, according to Pliny, ripen its 

 seeds in Italy, any more than it does in England. 

 But in this country, as well as in that, it produces 

 abundance of suckers, and it is by no means un- 

 common for plants that increase freely by roots to 

 produce abortive seed-vessels. The Great White 

 Convolvulus* or Bindweed, for instance, and the 

 Lesser Periwinkle,f which are most prolific by 

 their roots, and are undoubted natives, have never 

 been known to perfect their seeds. Besides which, 

 the authors who maintain that the Elm was intro- 

 duced into Britain as a companion of the Vine, 

 appear to have lost sight of Pliny's assertion that 

 the Atinian, or Common Elm, was never used for 

 the purpose, on account of its excessive foliage. J 

 On the whole, then, the Elm has as good a claim 

 to be considered a native of Britain, as of any of 

 the other European states, not excepting even 

 Italy, from which it is said to have been brought. 



Gilpin, speaking of the Elm as a picturesque 

 tree, has the following remarks : The Oak and 

 the Ash have each a distinct character. The 



* Convolvulus sepium. t Vinca minor, 



X Prima omnium ulmus, excepta propter nimiam frondem Atinia. — 

 Plin, Sec, Nat* Hist. lib. xvii., cap. xxiii. 



