OF FOREST-TREES. 



115 



CHAPTER IV. 

 The ELM^. 



1. XJlmus, the ELM. Of this there are four or five sorts, and, from 

 the difference of the s oil and air, divers spurious : Two of these kinds 

 are most worth your culture, viz. the Vulgar, or Mountain Elm, which is 

 taken to be the Oriptelea of Theophrastus, being of a less jagged and 

 smaller leaf ; and the Vernacula, or French Elm, whose leaves are 

 thicker and more florid, glabrous, and smooth, delighting in the lower 



CHAP. IV. 



^ The ELM is the next tree that offers itself to our observation : and it deserves this place, 

 whether we consider its beauty when growing, or its usefulness when felled. The 

 Wych Elm, or Ulmus Campestris, is the only species that grows in Great Britain, the rest 

 being varieties. 



ULMUS (campestris) foliis duplicato-serratis ; basi inaequalibus. Lin. Sp. PI. 327. Elm 

 with leaves doubly sawed on their edges, and unequal at their base. Ulmus vulgatissima, folio 

 lato, scabro. Ger. Emac. 1480. The Common Elm, with a broad rough leaf . The wych elm. 



The Wych Elm is very common in the north-west counties of England, where it grows to a very 

 large size, and is generally believed to grow naturally in the woods. The bark of the young 

 branches is smooth and very tough, but that of the old trees cracks and is rough. The 

 branches spread, and do not grow so erect as those of the small-leaved or English Elm. — 

 The leaves are rough, and are doubly sawed on their edges. Their base is unequal, about 

 three inches long and two broad, of a dark green colour, and stand upon short foot-stalks. — 

 The flowers come out in March upon the slender twigs, standing in clusters ; they are 

 of a deep red colour ; these are succeeded by oval bordered capsules, containing one 

 roundish compressed seed, which ripens in May. The wood of this tree is good for all the 

 purposes of any kind of Elm ; but the leaves do not come out till late in the spring, so there 

 are few persons who plant these trees near their habitations. The five following are 

 varieties. 



1. ULMUS ('sc^BR^^ foliis oblongo-ovatis inaequaliter serratis, calycibus foliaceis. Elm 

 with oblong, oval leaves, which are unequally sawed, and have leafy empalements to the jlowers. 

 Ulmus folio latissimo, scabro. Ger. Emac. 1481. Elm with a rough and very broad leaf. 

 The wych hazel. 



This sort grows naturally in some of the northern counties of England, where it is called Wych 

 Hazel, from the resemblance that the young shoots and leaves bear to those of Hazel.— 

 It grows to a tree of great magnitude. The bark of the young shoots is very smooth and 

 tough; it is of a yellowish brown colour, with spots of white. The leaves are oval, six 



Y 2 



